What are Confidential Materials and How to Dispose of Them Properly

Businesses collect, store, and use private customer data every day. This data is essential for conducting business and providing quality service. Although this information is required, people may not always want to share their personal information. According to a 2024 Ping Identity survey, consumer trust is declining in organizations. The survey found that with so much personally identifiable information available online, it is not surprising that 87% of consumers surveyed feel highly or somewhat concerned about identity theft or fraud. Thus, it isn’t surprising that 85% of consumers dislike disclosing too much personal information to the businesses they work with. Therefore, proactive steps should be taken to protect that data from falling into the wrong hands. Depending on the industry, for example, healthcare, you may have a legal requirement to protect confidential data. Secure document and hard drive destruction is an important part of keeping private information safe, but first you need to know what constitutes confidential waste.

What are Confidential Materials?

Confidential materials refer to any document or material that contains sensitive information that must be securely destroyed to prevent unauthorized access. These materials may include personal data, financial records, legal documents, and proprietary products. Secure destruction of confidential materials is a crucial step in the prevention of identity theft, corporate espionage, and data breaches.

Some Examples of Confidential Materials

Confidential materials can include a variety of documents that contain sensitive information requiring secure disposal. Examples include:

1. Personal Data

Documents containing personal data such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance numbers. This includes medical records, employee files, and application forms.

2. Financial Records

Bank statements, credit card information, tax returns, and financial reports. These documents hold sensitive financial details that must be kept secure.

3. Legal Documents

Contracts, litigation documents, and legal correspondence. These materials often contain privileged information that requires strict confidentiality.

4. Business Information and Products

Proprietary business plans, internal reports, and customer lists as well as old uniforms, ID badges, and promotional items. Ensuring the secure disposal of these items is crucial to protect business interests and competitive advantage.

5. Digital Media

Hard drive, media, and CD destruction* containing confidential information. Secure destruction of these items is as important as paper documents to help prevent data breaches.

Can Confidential Materials Be Thrown in Unsecured Bins?

You should not put confidential waste in the regular trash or recycling bin. Throwing documents into unsecured bins can potentially jeopardize information because anyone can remove them when no one is looking, which can lead to identity theft or data breaches. 

Instead, use secure shredding services to ensure confidential materials are destroyed properly. Shred-it^® uses locked consoles and NAID-certified processes that help protect businesses against malicious actors who may resort to dumpster diving to get access to information. Shred-it^®’s secure document destruction services ensure compliance with data protection regulations as well as ultimate recycling of confidential information.

Why is it Important to Manage the Destruction of Confidential Materials Securely?

1. Prevent Identity Theft

Secure destruction and disposal stops personal information from being misused for identity theft and fraud. This includes safeguarding sensitive data such as bank details, addresses, and other personal identifiers that could be exploited.

2. Ensure Regulatory Compliance

Adhering to GDPR and other regulations, proper destruction of these materials can mitigate or avoid legal penalties and ensures data protection. Compliance also demonstrates a commitment to upholding privacy standards and respecting the rights of individuals.

3. Avoid Corporate Espionage

Protects business secrets and proprietary information from competitors. Secure destruction of confidential documents helps prevent valuable company information like sensitive strategies, client lists, and intellectual property from falling into the wrong hands.

4. Maintain Trust

Responsible handling of sensitive information builds client and stakeholder trust. By ensuring that private data is handled securely, organizations reinforce their reputation for reliability and professionalism.

5. Support Environmental Responsibility

Secure shredding, which recycles all paper documents, supports a circular economy. It also reduces the carbon footprint associated with improper waste disposal, contributing to broader environmental sustainability goals.

How to Securely Destroy Confidential Materials

Proper destruction and disposal or recycling of confidential materials is essential to ensuring data protection and compliance with regulations. Shred-it^® offers a wide range of reliable data destruction services that are designed to best meet your needs:

• One-time shredding: Shred-it^® will perform a one-time collection of documents.
• Regularly-scheduled shredding: Lockable containers are provided in addition to regularly scheduled pickups.
• Drop-off shredding: Individuals and businesses can drop off documents at a local Shred-it^® office.
• Mobile shredding services: Shred-it^® performs the shredding of documents onsite.*
• Specialty shredding services*: Shred-it^® securely destroys non-paper items such as price books, media, medical records, exams, expired IDs, old uniforms, and more.
• Hard drive destruction*: Data can be recovered from devices, even if it has been manually deleted. Shred-it^® offers state-of-the-art technology to permanently delete hard drive data by physically destroying the device.

Shred-it^® provides secure shredding services to ensure that confidential materials are destroyed in compliance with data protection regulations and industry standards.

^{*Contact Shred-it® for service availability.}

^{**This article is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances.}