Identity theft is the most common reason for the theft of personal information, and according to Statista.com in 2017 there were 1,579 data breaches and 69% of those resulted in some type of identity theft. Many businesses have measures in place to handle the securing and disposal of physical and digital documents but chances are you do not even think about the sensitive documents you might have lying around your house. I am sure if you look around your home right now you will find documents containing your personal information. Many of us leave them lying on our kitchen counters or stored on old electronic devices.
For example, the U.S. Postal Service processes and delivers 493.4 million mail pieces each day. Much of it containing sensitive information such as banking statements, credit card information, receipts, invoices, medical billing information and much more. If you are like me then you might have boxes full of old mail you refuse to throw away because it contains sensitive personal information.
Also many of us buy some type of new technology every few years whether that is a computer, smartphone, scanner or some other device that contains a hard drive. This leads to boxes full of old electronics and hard drives. Out of fear of identity theft I tend to hold on to these drives because I do not want someone getting my personal information off these items.
While we cannot control how organizations secure and destroy our information, we can control what happens to the information in our possession. This means we have to decide to either let our house look like it belongs on an episode of Hoarders, or get rid of these documents without compromising our sensitive information. Well, you are in luck!! Here are 5 ways you can destroy documents containing your sensitive information.
Destruction of Physical Documents
1. Shredding
Shredding is the most common method of destroying documents. However, not all shredders are created equal, and some do a better job at destroying your documents than others. There are three types of shredders: strip-cut shredder, cross-cut shredders, and micro-cut shredders.
Strip-cut shredders are the least secure of the three types and document can be pieced back together. Cross-cut shredders cut the document into smaller pieces than strip-cut shredders. While unlikely the document could be pieced back together. If you use a strip-cut or cross-cut shredders you should consider burning or pulping the shredding to ensure they cannot be pieced back together. Micro-cut shredders are the most secure of the three types because they turn documents into confetti, and there is no chance of putting these documents back together.
2. Burning
Burning your sensitive documents is an effective way of destroying them but it does not come without risk. When using fire to destroy items you are always at risk of being burned, the fire spreading beyond your control, and other health related issues such as smoke inhalation. Therefore when burning documents remember safety first! Always have a fire extinguisher nearby in case the fire gets out of control. Always follow state and city rules as it pertains to burn permits and times of year you can and cannot burn items. Always wear proper safety equipment when handling fire and combustible materials.If you choose to use this method, have all safety equipment and follow these steps:
- Build a fire pit. This can be a metal trash can or a barbecue grill.
- Place the paper in the pit and set on fire
- Let papers burn until they are reduced ashes
- Check ashes for any larger pieces that did not burn
- If pieces are found burn them again until they are reduced to ashes.
3. Pulping
Pulping is a method of destroying paper documents through the agitation of water to turn the documents into paper pulp.You can complete this through the following steps:
- Obtain a large container i.e. bucket, trash can or plastic tote.
- Fill the container halfway with water. If you do not plan on using the pulp for mulch or other projects you can add some bleach to the water to assist with breaking down of the paper.
- Place the documents you want to destroy in the water and thoroughly saturate them.
- Allow documents to soak in the water overnight.
- After soaking overnight agitate the water with some type of mixing device.
- Mix water and paper together until all paper is destroyed and turned into pulp.
- Remove pulp from the water, allow to dry and discard.
NOTE: If you have a strip-cut shredder or cross-cut shredder you might want to consider using this method after shredding your documents to ensure complete destruction.
Destruction of Digital Documents
4. Digital File Shredding
Many of us simply delete files from our computers when we no longer need them but just because you delete them does not mean they cannot be recovered. When you delete a file from your computer it simply removes the pathway to access the file, and tells the computer it is okay to overwrite the file. However, if the file has not been overwritten it can still be recovered by simply using a file recovery program. Thus leaving your sensitive information vulnerable to being stolen, if you get rid of the hard drive.
Using a digital file shredder can help make your delete files non-recoverable by overwriting them several times. I use the program Eraser to delete my digital files from my recycling bin. Eraser is a 100% free Windows security tool that ensures the removal of sensitive data from your computer. Eraser allows the user to set up a schedule to shred specific folders or files, or manually shred them. It also allows you to select the number of times the selected data is overwritten. the more passes the longer it takes to shred the document but the less likely it can be recovered.If you want to learn more or want to download the program follow the link below:
5. Physical Destruction
When disposing of electronic devices or hard drives physical destruction is the best method of ensuring your sensitive data is not recovered. However there is a proper way to destroy your hard drives. First you need to know the anatomy of a hard drive, see below:
Depending on the type of drive you have Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will depend on which part you want to destroy. In an SSD the flash memory is where the data is stored and in an HDD the data is stored in the platters. When destroying these drives at home it is important to remove all protective covers from the drives. Then focus on destroying the platters and/or flash memory. You can do this by using a hammer, drill or industrial shredder.