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The world of data destruction has increasingly grown in popularity and importance as the necessity of data destruction has grown. As the industry evolved, much like any industry, data destruction associations were created. Data destruction associations provide several resources and information to members as well as providing networking opportunities within the industry.
Currently, the largest association within the data destruction industry is the National Association for Information Destruction, also known as NAID. The association provides information on the standards and ethics of providing data destruction services. Included in the NAID are also paper shredding companies and companies that offer goods and services to the industry such as shredding equipment and all shredding container supplies. NAID also offers AAA Certification, which is the only quality assurance program within the industry. When a company gets AAA Certified it means that they are not in violation of HIPAA and meet industry standards in a variety of areas including safety and management. Also, with a NAID AAA Certification, it means that a business has been verified and put through a comprehensive and unannounced audit program and that they have passed all industry standards. Being NAID AAA certified ensures potential customers of these companies that they are meeting numerous regulations and laws that protect the customer’s information. Some of these regulations include the FACTA Final Disposal Rule, the FACTA Red Flags Rule, and the HIPAA Security Rule.
The Professional Records & Information Services Management, PRISM, is another data destruction association in the industry. Initially, this data destruction association was concerned primarily with the storage of records and management industry. Since it’s start, PRISM has expanded its horizons to working with a wide range of information and records management clients. Today, they also represent the interests of the quickly growing data destruction offset of the information management industry.
