To shred or not to shred? That is the first question. Now that we've answered that with a resounding "yes", let us find out how. The question is as old as the proverbial day is long--on-site or off? Do I have a truck come to shred it or do I have it taken away and shredded at a facility? Based on a regulatory
and compliance perspective, on-site and off-site are deemed equal by the Federal Trade Commission. According to governmental acts such as HIPAA, FACTA, SOX, and GLB the onus lies with the company or individual who is investing in the destruction project to observe "due diligence" before hiring a shredding company.
What's the difference between the two? Simply stated, the on-site shredding truck costs a lot of money to buy so they charge a lot of money to come. They are extremely loud thus creating an uncomfortable level of noise pollution. These trucks also need to be running their engines at high RPMs to activate their shredders, so besides the noise pollution there is an excessive level of
exhaust emission from the truck creating more diesel pollution. All this occurs outside an office building where they take up coveted parking spots and distract the employees trying to be productive, or double park on the streets causing traffic issues. More often than not, companies don't even utilize the one advantage that the shredding trucks have over off-site shredding--nobody ever goes down to the truck to see if the information is actually being shredded.
A common misconception is that onsite is safer, when in fact from a safety and security perspective the shredding truck presents more of a risk. More than once I have witnessed wayward papers fly down a street or parking lot as the bins they were in are opened either going into the truck or coming out of it. I have also recently seen and documented employees of shredding companies bring the bins to street level only to leave them there alone while they go get their truck. With Allstar Secure Shred’s secured off-site shredding your bins are locked when
removed from your office, placed in our locked trucks which upon arrival to our facility are backed entirely into our warehouse and unloaded into our machinery.
removed from your office, placed in our locked trucks which upon arrival to our facility are backed entirely into our warehouse and unloaded into our machinery.
How do I choose the 'right' company? For most if not all businesses reputation is a key component in determining if they will be hired. The same applies to the shredding industry if not more so. In most cases people do not know 'shredders' so they Google them to find one to service their needs. Be sure to always ask for references to make sure they are doing what they say, and at a quality level of service that is deemed acceptable. Also ask for a tour of the facility
where your information will be destroyed to obtain a firsthand look at the process. At Allstar we not only provide tours we encourage them. What if I’m still not convinced off-site is the way to go? I leave you with this analogy--when you have blood taken at the doctor’s office do you watch
them check it and give you instant results? No, they take your blood and send it to a lab where it is tested with tens of thousands of other samples and the results are returned in a few days. If you trust your own health to that process, then trusting us to handle confidential information should not be a problem. At Allstar--security, safety and integrity are what we provide to our clients and potential clients along with our reputation of providing excellent customer service.
