Many businesses often use shredding services to dispose of expired, arbitrary documents, as shredding documents can ensure legal protection and compliance. Secure data destruction is the law, as Federal law dictates that sensitive data needs to be destroyed, and industry-specific legislations have their own set of laws regarding data disposal. Financial penalties, lawsuits, identity theft, and other consequences can emerge, and a chain of custody is considered one of the best ways to ensure that your information cannot be retrieved after it has been disposed of.
What Is Chain of Custody?
When considering data disposal, chain of custody refers to where documents and data are at every stage of their lifecycle, from when the document was created to its destruction. Chain of custody provides a paper trail for your documents, a form of confirmation that your documents were shredded and recycled.
The Benefits of a Chain of Custody in Document Shredding
Sometimes, when a company’s documents have reached the end of their lifespan, they will be outsourced to a professional shredding company. A chain of custody process for document shredding offers several valuable benefits for businesses that receive certified shredding services from a shredding company. Getting a secure chain of custody from a shredding company can provide your company benefits, which include:
Enhanced Security: The chain of custody provides better security by maintaining strict oversight of documents throughout their lifecycle. Through this process, businesses can prevent unauthorized access or potential data breaches. Each step involved in a chain of custody is carefully monitored and documented to ensure your sensitive documents are controlled.
Legal Compliance: Many industries are governed by strict regulations regarding how sensitive information is handled and destroyed. Receiving a well-documented chain of custody can help your business comply with HIPAA, FACTA, and other privacy legislations requiring proof of secure data handling.
Proof of Destruction: At the end of the shredding process, your business will receive a certificate of destruction. The certificate provides detailed information about the shredding process and proves that the documents have been destroyed in compliance with the law. During audits and legal inquiries, it’s crucial to demonstrate this certificate as proof that your business has responsibly managed its data destruction.
Prevent Information Theft: As identity theft and data breaches are prominent business problems, properly destroying sensitive documents is more important than ever. A chain of custody can ensure that your documents are not only shredded but handled to minimize these risks.
Efficiency and Reliability: A chain of custody provides a layer of efficiency and reliability to your document destruction process. As a business, you can rely on systematic procedures and ensure your documents are handled consistently.
The Key Components of the Chain of Custody
Each element of a chain of custody is designed to ensure that your sensitive documents are handled securely from start to finish. When you off-site your documents to a shredding company, there are key components to the process that make it valuable for businesses looking to destroy documents within legal means.
Barcode Tracking: Your documents and boxes are assigned barcodes scanned at various points throughout the handling process to create a traceable record. This record details when your documents are picked up, transported, and eventually shredded.
Locking Shred Bins: Secure shredding bins protect the documents from being tampered with and accessed until they are shredded. These bins remain locked until they’re ready to be shredded, ensuring that your documents are protected from unauthorized access throughout the process.
GPS-Tracked Trucks: Many shredding companies use trucks equipped with GPS tracking to monitor their location in real-time. GPS tracking ensures that the documents are transported securely and allows you to track the exact route taken to the shredding facility.
24/7 Video Monitoring: Many shredding facilities have video surveillance to record shredding activities. The footage serves as additional proof, alongside the certificate of destruction and chain of custody, that the materials are handled securely and shredded.
The Chain of Custody Process
Chain of custody is crucial for businesses that must protect confidential information from unauthorized access and potential misuse. During the shredding process, every action taken before the initial shredding is meant as a way to demonstrate this process to ensure compliance with legal requirements and provide assurance that all sensitive, outdated data is destroyed.
A Detailed Step-by-Step Chain of Custody Process
- Secure Collection: The process begins with placing the documents in locked shredding bins. The bins are locked to prevent unauthorized access and kept in secure areas. The shredding company provides these bins to ensure that they meet the required security standards.
- Document Barcoding: Each bin and container has a unique barcode assigned to it, which is used to track the documents throughout the shredding process. Your shredding provider will scan these barcodes at various points to give you detailed tracking to maintain the chain of custody.
- Secure Transportation: Once the bins are fully loaded, trained personnel collect them. Throughout transportation, the bins remain locked and are loaded onto GPS-tracked trucks, enabling you to monitor the exact location of your documents at all times for extra security.
- Arrival at Shredding Facility: Once they arrive at the facility, the bins are scanned again to update their status in the tracking system, confirming that they have reached the next step without any breaches.
- Controlled Shredding: The locked bins are then taken to a secure shredding area, where they are emptied directly into industrial shredders. Shredding is carried out under 24/7 video surveillance to ensure that all actions are recorded and can be viewed if needed.
- Recycled Shredding Material: If the shredding facility uses environmentally sustainable practices, the destroyed documents are compressed and sent to a recycling facility after the shredding.
- Certificate of Destruction: Once the shredding is completed, you’re issued a certificate of destruction. The certificate details the chain of custody, including the times and locations of each step, the barcode numbers, the names of personnel involved, and other details of the process. The certificate of destruction serves as proof that the documents were properly destroyed within its requirements.
Ensure a Secure Shredding Process with Shred Nations
Secure document shredding with a verifiable chain of custody can protect your business from potential risks, and having chains of custody and certificates of destruction provide formal receipts for your business and, most of all can offer you peace of mind regarding your documents. For more information on how to start securing your document disposal process, contact Shred Nations. Call us at (800) 747-3365, fill out the form, or contact us directly using our live chat to get free quotes on shredding providers near you.
