Can Paper Shredding Save The World?

Although we live in a world where superheroes don’t exist, there are still personal battles that everyone faces on a day to day basis. When considering using a paper shredding service for your business, think of all the ways you and your employees could benefit from this solution. Not all heroes wear capes, but a paper shredding company will win the fight for proper data destruction and identity theft protection every time.

We can’t save the world with paper shredding, but we live in a world where we need to be doing more as a species to save the planet. Paper shredding isn’t just going to help people to prevent their own identity from being stolen – it also contributes to recycling efforts. Shredded documents don’t end up in landfills, and according to the EPA, a ton of paper recycled can save the equivalent energy of 165 gallons of gasoline! Alongside this, you can avoid people using your personal data to sabotage you in a way that affects your identity.

Preventing Identity Theft

There are plenty of ways that you can get involved with identity theft prevention, and these include:

● Ignore any email or text message that asks you to click a link to verify account information.
● Never give out any credit card or bank account information over the phone unless you’ve
initiated the phone call in the first place.
● Shop online on websites that are secure with a safety certification.
● Shred all of your financial records and bank statements, credit card bills, and any pre-approved credit applications, too.
● Reduce how much junk mail you receive by contacting the companies to cease the paper mail.
● Opt-out of having any credit offers pre-screened.

Everything that makes up your life will be on paper. This includes your bank details and credit card information, birth details and address – all on letters sent to you. Your social security information printed on letters from the IRS is a way for thieves to steal your identity, too.  Basically, anything that is written about you on paper can be taken and used to steal your identity.

When this happens, you could be exposed to credit being taken out in your name, fraudulent passports and other identification documents being created in your name and even bank accounts being opened.

How You Can Protect Sensitive Information

There are plenty of ways that you can protect your sensitive information. Almost everything will teach you how to look after your online information properly, but there are still ways that you can look after your paper records, too.

● In your business, keep a tracking or logging system for sensitive paperwork.
● Any printed reports should identify who is responsible for the reports – that way if anything goes missing, you know where to start.
● It’s important to supervise anyone who has the ability to access sensitive information so that it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
● Sensitive documentation shouldn’t be left out in the open for anyone to see.
● Locked filing cabinets are a must for sensitive paperwork.
● Use a paper shredding service to shred all sensitive information and avoid throwing any paperwork in the trash.

In your personal world, you can still employ all of these techniques to look after your sensitive information. Keeping things hidden and locked away is the smartest way to look after your personal information. Protecting sensitive information starts with ensuring that thieves cannot get to your information on paper. While you can buy a cheap shredder from any store, it’s not advised to go that way. It’s also not a good idea to go for the most expensive shredder on the market. It’s about WHAT you shred more than it is about how you shred it. However, choosing to use a shredding service – particularly if you’re running a business with large amounts of paper information on your customers – is the smartest choice.

Saving Your Personal World

Have you any idea what identity theft could do to your personal life? You could lose everything – no, really. If the paperwork that identifies you gets into the wrong hands, your identity could be assumed and taken over. You could have your credit files plummet through the floor. Bank accounts and mortgages could be applied for in your name. Even your whole identity could be cloned and sold to someone elsewhere. Your personal world is important, so if you can’t be a hero and save the actual world, you can still look after your own.

How PROSHRED® Chicago Can Help

With PROSHRED® Chicago’s shredding service, you can ensure that your personal identity is kept under wraps. We can also help you to protect your business from thieves who are looking to take information and use it to their advantage.  PROSHRED® Chicago is your top choice when searching for paper shredding near me.  Call today and see how we can help! 1-708-263-4292.