Onsite vs Offsite Shredding
Document shredding is an integral part of business security. While companies are meticulous about their electronic data security, it is equally important how they handle physical data. Per the 2015 BakerHostetler Incident Response Report, a full 20% of all data breaches involve physical, paper records. There are two types of shredding services to choose from – onsite vs offsite shredding.
Onsite Shredding
Onsite shredding, also called mobile shredding, involves calling a shredding company to your place of business. They will bring a vehicle with a shredder inside and destroy all your documents without them ever leaving the premises. There are advantages to onsite shredding, including:
Convenient. Onsite shredding means the company comes to your business to perform shredding.
Secure. You can visually confirm your documents are shredded as the process is occurring and your documents never leave the property intact.
Immediate. There is less room for error as all documents are immediately destroyed as they are received.
Offsite Shredding
With offsite shredding, a shredding company sends a vehicle to your business to pick up your documents, empties shred bins, or picks up any boxes of documents you have to be destroyed. They then haul your documents to a shredding facility. The advantages of offsite shredding include:
Excellent for regular, scheduled shredding. Offsite shredding is often employed by businesses that have a regular recurring need for shredding services. Companies can have their documents removed for shredding on a weekly or monthly basis, simply tossing documents bound for shredding into designated bins.
Cost-effective. Offsite shredding is a more economical option for document shredding. It also reduces the need for offsite storage of sensitive documents that are no longer needed but represent a legal liability if not properly handled and stored.
Environmentally friendly. It is more environmentally friendly to use offsite shredding, as shredding companies can recycle your destroyed materials.
Wider service area. Shredding companies typically have a broader service area for picking up documents to be shredded as opposed to doing the shredding onsite.
Which Do You Choose to Meet Your Needs?
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only 27% of identity theft occurred online, reinforcing how important securing, and properly destroying when needed, physical information can be. This is just one more reason to protect all your documents. Putting personal client information at risk can be catastrophic to your business.
Additionally, your information is the lifeblood of your company and a breach can cause a loss in revenue as well as damage your company’s reputation. Your service choice should be based on the sensitivity of your information and your budget constraints.
Some companies deal with documents that require destruction that is witnessed. This can be because materials are copyrighted, royalty-based documents, or private client records. In these instances, on-site shredding may be required. In some instances, even legally so.
When the security needs are not so specific, off-site shredding is a far more affordable option. A reputable company will still guarantee document destruction. Some even allow for the viewing of the destruction of your materials remotely. It also makes for a convenient way to handle documents, as a company can set up secured shredding bins where a shredding company can come in periodically to empty them.