.png){kind=icon}
Most, if not all, businesses will eventually hold sensitive information. This data could be regarding employees as well as customers. Confidential information is any information that could be used for identification purposes. This includes home addresses, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers and more. With more and more data being stored in the cloud or online, many companies over the years have experienced large scale hacks. The stolen information doesn’t just take place online, however. More than ever information is being taken from old hard drives and other forms of electronic waste. In response to the increase in stolen information, laws and regulations have been put into place to help secure the data destruction services process. Luckily there is help out there about information destruction services.
The National Association for Information Destruction is the body that sets into place the standards for the information destruction industry. Companies that have been certified by the National Association for Information Destruction undergo a rigorous process to make sure that all laws and regulations are being met. Many companies have privacy laws in place that require an organization or agency to destroy any personal information that has been collected after a specified amount of time. This makes it so that no longer used sensitive data is regularly and routinely destroyed, making it less likely for the information to be stolen.
HIPPA is another governing policy that governs information destruction services. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was passed in 1996, states that agencies are required to prevent unauthorized access to protected health information. This means that sensitive information must be protected or else penalties by the government would be enacted. The most secure way to destroy confidential information is through the destruction of electronics that store information such as computer hard drives. When electronics holding sensitive information are destroyed, companies are more likely to comply with governing agencies such as HIPPA and the National Association for Information Destruction.
