How can you prepare for upcoming GDPR requirements through shredding?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 25th May 2018. This key EU regulation is set to shake up the way that businesses handle consumer data and, despite the imminent UK exit from the EU, it will still apply next year. So, for every business, there is now some urgency to ensuring that internal processes comply with the GDPR and that the way that personal information and customer data is handled and disposed of won’t create problems for the business. This is particularly so in the context of the fines that the GDPR has introduced for a lack of compliance, which could be anything up to €20 million or 4% of annual turnover.
Future-proofing against the GDPR
The GDPR has been designed to get businesses to think a lot more carefully about the way that customer data and sensitive information is held. This creates new obligations at every point in the process, from acquiring information in the first place, to the way that it is handled and disposed of. A key part of this is the “right to be forgotten,” which essentially means that a consumer has a right to ask that all trace of them is removed from a company’s records.
The practical implications
This new set of requirements will have a wide-ranging impact on every business. Digital safeguards are required to ensure that electronic data is properly handled but the real challenge for many comes with the more tangible formats. Paper shredding has always been a solid option for dealing with the disposal of sensitive or confidential materials but never have the potential consequences been so high for a security breach. Confidentiality is now a big issue for every organisation, no matter how small – and at every stage in the process too, from storage right through to eventual disposal.
How on-site shredding can help with GDPR compliance
GDPR compliance is built on the ability of a business to keep personal data safe and secure. There is no better way to do this than with an on-site shredding service. In the lifecycle of tangible data there are many points in the process where there is a risk of potential exposure. From poorly stored documents and files that are waiting to be disposed of, through to the risks that may occur when data is taken off site for disposal, security breaches can occur at any time.
On-site shredding helps to significantly reduce this risk. Not only do safe storage containers offer solutions for ensuring risk-free holding of documents but the shredding process itself is carried out on site, which removes the risky element of transport. Plus, a professional on-site shredding service is one of the only ways to ensure that documents are completely destroyed. Doing this by hand or internally is rarely as effective.
If you’re currently preparing for the impact of the GDPR, destruction of sensitive data will have a key role to play. On-site shredding is the simplest and most effective option for ensuring that you have it covered.
Get in touch with Shred-on-Site today to find an on-site shredding arrangement that is convenient for you.
Author: Mark Coombes, Follow me on Google+
