Identity theft is a massive threat for businesses and their leaders – and one of the main reasons secure shredding is a must these days.

ID thieves can wreak havoc for a business – running up debts in your name, posing as you when contacting customers, and hitting your ability to raise finance.

Secure shredding is an important tool to make things far harder for ID thieves, helping you keep your information safe.

Not only could they target you and your business, they could attempt to steal the identities of your customers or suppliers, so you need to keep their information safe, too.

Any business also needs to be aware of the General Data Protection Regulation and its emphasis on the importance of data protection.

Its rules apply to paper documents and information held on laptops, PCs, tablets, USB sticks, and phones.

A data breach could land your business with a large fine under GDPR – up to 4% of your annual turnover or 20 million Euros for serious breaches – and it could deliver a huge blow to your reputation.

How do you know that you or your business is being targeted by ID thieves?

Some of the signs you’re being targeted by identity thieves include…

• Missing documents – Important documents might have been taken to use the information in them, including passports and driver’s licences or copies of them.
• Missing post – Thieves could be intercepting mail to look for bank statements, credit card deliveries, utility bills, or information from government bodies such as HMRC and Companies House.
• Recycling or rubbish has been rifled – ID thieves may have been looking for useful documents which have been thrown away.
• You begin receiving letters from debt collectors or solicitors for debts that aren’t yours.
• There are items you don’t recognise on your bank statement.

How could your business reduce the risks?

• Separate confidential documents from normal recycling. Only put documents which don’t contain details such as names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and bank details in the open recycling.
• Store important documents securely – Either use a safe or a lockable filing cabinet. Make sure your confidential waste is stored securely before it is shredded, too. We offer lockable consoles.
• Monitor your bank accounts and your credit ratings regularly.
• If you’re moving office, get your post redirected by Royal Mail and inform your bank, utility company, telephone provider, accountant, HMRC, and Companies House.
• Choose a shredding company which meets the highest standards for data security and quality, as we do at Taclus Confidential. Ensure they use a secure facility and that their staff are vetted.
• Opt for on-site or mobile shredding, which can be carried out in front of you. You will get an immediate certificate of destruction.
• Don’t forget that your old hard drives and media such as image cards, phone SIMs, and USB sticks can contain all sorts of confidential information. Get them shredded, too.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.

Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on secure shredding, contact our experienced team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

The cost of being sloppy with your confidential waste shredding is spiralling.

The average fine for data breaches has doubled over the past year, City law firm RPC has calculated. It says the Information Commissioner’s Office imposed almost £5 million in fines between September 2017 and September 18, an increase of 24% on the previous year.

The average fine is now £146,000, a substantial potential cost facing any business which does not handle its confidential waste shredding or data storage correctly.

Recent high profile fines include the £500,000 imposed on credit-reporting company Equifax after a hacker gained access to the personal details of 15 million people, and the £500,000 imposed on Facebook for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Up to 87 million account holders had their data harvested without their knowledge.

The Facebook fine was imposed under the Data Protection Act 1998, rather than GDPR where the maximum penalty is up to 4% of worldwide annual turnover or €20m, whichever is greater. The incident fell outside RPC’s calculations because of the reporting time.

However, RPC says this increase in fines should be a “wake-up call” to businesses to ensure their confidential data is held and destroyed securely.

Given the fact SMEs make up 99.9% of the businesses in the UK, according to Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills statistics, most have fewer than 50 employees and the average UK annual turnover is around £500,000, the burden of the average fine for data breaches could be devastating for them.

How can confidential waste shredding help keep your online data safe?

One of the easiest ways for hackers to gain access to your system is to check through your waste paper or old hard drives and USB sticks to get information on passwords, software, hardware, and IP addresses which access it regularly.

Think about all the information we print out, write on sticky notes on our desks, or keep filed away in drawers, and all the data we have on old hard drives.

If you’re disposing of that sort of confidential paper waste or waste media, secure shredding ensures those details don’t pass into the hands of hackers.

It also ensures you’re meeting your requirements under GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation.

Your data controller will need to show the systems you have in place to ensure the personal data you hold about staff, customers, and suppliers is secure.

Any documents you no longer need with personal details such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, National Insurance numbers, copies of ID documents such as passports and driving licences, or medical or disciplinary records would fall into the confidential waste category.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

• We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.
• Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.
• Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on confidential waste shredding, contact our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

What do I need to know about paper shredding services?

There are several decisions you need to make when you decide on your business’s paper shredding services.

It’s not just about how much shredding costs, you need to think about the logistics in your business, the level of security you need, and how it will help you comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

So, here’s what you need to think about when it comes to paper shredding services…

Storing your waste

Bags– For confidential waste in businesses where there is no public access, having a flexible bag service and collection whenever necessary is useful.

Lockable consoles– For businesses where there is public access on site, a large number of employees, or where sensitive data is held (such as in dental surgeries or legal practices), having lockable consoles keeps that data secure.

Deciding on the right paper shredding services

Each business needs to decide which service is right for them. Here are the choices…
One-off shredding– Perfect for the spring clean or annual office clear-out. We understand that our clients need to do this from time to time, so we don’t set a limit in the number of one-off collections.

Regular collections– Ideal for any business or organisation which needs regular assistance to keep on top of confidential paper waste.

Off-site shredding– Your confidential waste is taken in a secure van by vetted staff to our secure shredding facility and shredded to fine particles. You get a certificate of destruction and an audit trail so that you can prove your commitment to GDPR.

On-site shredding – Also known as mobile shredding, this allows businesses with sensitive data to see those documents shredded in front of them on their own site. This is useful for business such as care homes, solicitors, and accountants. You also get a certificate of destruction and an audit trail so that you can also prove your commitment to GDPR.

How you can choose the right paper shredding company

• Look at their accreditations and make sure they comply with the latest standards for quality and environmental management.
• Look at their current clients. Are they in a similar industry to yours or are they of a similar size with similar challenges? Shredding companies which are already servicing businesses similar to yours will understand the challenges you face.
• Get testimonials from clients. Look at their ratings on independent review sites.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.

Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on paper shredding services, contact our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

You wouldn’t leave your business laptops or phones without security, would you? So why would you ignore the need for the secure shredding of your confidential documents?

Online security has become so important these days. It’s vital to ensure our systems aren’t hacked, our passwords cracked, and our data and money stolen. The problem is, we still live in the physical world where the data in documents could compromise our systems if stolen, land us a large fine, or destroy the confidence our clients have in us.

When you put it like that, hiring a secure shredding service for your documents is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Here are 4 compelling reasons to invest in secure shredding for your business

1. Your documents could make it easier for electronic systems to be accessed.They could contain useful data for hackers who are looking to crack your passwords. No matter how many times you tell them not to, some people will still write them down or print them out and keep them on their desks! Make sure these passwords don’t fall into the wrong hands. Hackers could also obtain your written-down policy on when and how passwords need to be changed and use that to infiltrate your systems.
2. Your business probably can’t afford a large fine for allowing the breach of confidential data.This could be customer or staff data, or even data relating to a supplier. Information about bank accounts, names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, national insurance numbers, and addresses are often contained on documents such as invoices, staff contracts, bills, letters, and personnel files. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, a business where there is a serious breach of data security could be faced with a fine of up to 20 million Euros or 4% of the worldwide turnover, whichever is the larger.
3. You can’t afford the loss of reputation.No customer is going to come back to use you again if their data has been stolen. Once that happens, word of mouth can quickly turn against your business and that can cost you dearly in lost sales or fractured relationships with your best suppliers.
4. Insecure shredding could make you complacent.Some businesses and organisations have found that using a simple office shredder is not enough to protect their confidential and sensitive data. A documents which has been shredded this way can still be put back together and the information on it used against your business. A secure cross-shredder, where the documents is shredded into tiny pieces different ways rather than in simple strips, and by vetted staff, is a far better option.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.

Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on secure shredding, contact our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

If your business produces sensitive documents, it’s time to consider mobile shredding.

All paper documents reach the end of their useful life at some point, and if your business produces documents with details of medical records, financial transactions, and staff disciplinaries, keeping the destruction of those files on your site could give you peace of mind.

Mobile shredding, also known as on-site shredding, allows you to see your records being destroyed in front of you.

Your sensitive documents can go straight from a lockable console into the shredder.

A mobile shredding van visits your site and staff carry out the work there, issuing you with a certificate of destruction afterwards.

What sort of business or organisation would find mobile shredding useful?

• Solicitors – who have confidential and sensitive legal files
• Accountants – who hold confidential business records for their clients
• Care homes – which have resident medical records
• Dentists and GP practices – who have medical records
• NHS trusts – which have staff records and patient medical records
• Housing associations – which hold staff and tenant information
• Schools and colleges – with documents containing student and staff information
• Local authorities – from local councils to police and fire and rescue services
• Large companies – businesses with large numbers of employees such as call centres or warehouses

What do I need to think about?

You’ll need a secure area where the on-site shredding can take place and you’ll need to think about when the mobile shredding would be least disruptive to your business.

It’s also worth asking your shredding service these questions:

What is the size of the shredded paper after the work is carried out? Ensure it’s small enough to ensure the document cannot be re-assembled.

How long with the shredding take? This will depend on the amount you have, but ensure your staff have enough time to oversee the process.

When will I be issued with my certificate of destruction? Some companies will issue there and then, others will email the certificate out to you.

Are your staff vetted? The best companies will have staff who have been police checked and who are in uniform.

What happens to the shredded paper? Look for a company which has a no-landfill policy to ensure you meet your business’s objectives on sustainability.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.

Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on mobile shredding, please contact our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]