Blog - Land Shark Shredding

Privacy Regulations and Your Business

Are you familiar with the privacy regulations that affect your business? Does your company have a compliant information destruction strategy? In this blog, we summarize several federal laws and how to comply with them.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA affects any organization storing, handling, and/or transmitting protected health information (PHI). The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) monitors and enforces HIPAA compliance. Non-compliance penalties include monetary fines and possible jail time for corporate officers. Partner with a shredding and destruction company that offers HIPAA physician compliance training to make sure your information disposal policies align with HIPAA requirements.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)

FACTA is designed to mitigate and prevent consumer identity theft, requiring financial institutions and creditors to have a written Identity Theft Prevention Program. The law’s Disposal Rule requires businesses to take “reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of consumer information.” Partnering with a mobile shredding company protects your documents from the moment employees place them in secure collection containers until your shredding provider destroys them on-site at your business. You receive a Certificate of Destruction so your business can prove it has taken “reasonable measures” to destroy consumer information.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

GLBA mandates that financial institutions and other businesses that offer financial services and products to consumers must have safeguards to protect their customers’ data. Under GLBA, companies must have written information-sharing policies and information security plans, including a strategy for data that reaches the end of its lifecycle. Whether disposing of electronic media, magnetic media, or hard copy paper records, partner with an information destruction company that offers paper shredding and media destruction services.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Educational institutions and schools collect vast amounts of student information. FERPA protects the privacy of education records. It prevents educational institutions from distributing student records to anyone other than parents or organizations with written permission. Student records should be destroyed as soon as they reach a final disposition date. Educational institutions that do not heed disposal rules may be subject to the withholding of federal funds and payments. A scheduled shredding service offers routine destruction of expired student records. Background-screened, professional destruction experts routinely visit your school for mobile on-site shredding.

For more privacy law compliance tips, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

Land Shark Shredding offers shredding and destruction services throughout Kentucky and in Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana.

Land Shark Shredding to Host Household Hazardous Waste Day Oct. 26

It’s that time of year again to get rid of all the hazardous waste taking up space around your home. Bowling Green and Warren County governments, in association with local businesses, are sponsoring the annual Household Hazardous Waste Day.

This year’s event will take place on October 26 at the Warren County Salt Barn, located at 999 Lauren Avery Driver, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is free.

Bring unused chemicals, waste oil, herbicides, pesticides, devices containing mercury, as well as small appliances for proper disposal. We’ll also be taking old computers and monitors for recycling. Land Shark Shredding will also be on hand to shred any paper documents.

Those bringing an excessive amount of items may be asked to call the Land Shark Shredding office at 270-793-0880 and schedule a purge to ensure the line moves swiftly.

Some items, however, cannot be accepted, such as scrap tires, automotive junk and debris, refrigerated appliances, smoke detectors, and other items that contain harmful or radioactive material.

Give us a call for more information or if you have any questions.

5 Ways a Mobile Shredding Service Benefits Your Business

Your office has a treasure trove of expired documents. What’s your solution for getting rid of them? To save time, do you push them aside, hoping to tackle shredding later? Or do you devote several hours each month to destroying them with your paper shredder? In this blog, we discuss how a mobile shredding service benefits your business.

1. Anytime, Anywhere Document Destruction

Having to lug documents to an office supply store for destruction is expensive, inconvenient, and time consuming. Whether you need your documents destroyed at your primary business location, satellite office or storage facility, a mobile shredding provider can shred them whenever it’s most convenient for you.

2. Privacy Protection

Off-site shredding and destruction companies transport their customers’ documents to a shredding plant. On the way to the shredding plant, many things can happen to your information, including theft. A mobile shredding service eliminates this risk. Your information never leaves your business. Screened professionals collect your documents and destroy them on-site while you watch. The mobile shredding truck features a video verification system that records the entire destruction process.

3. Time Savings

In-house shredding is time consuming. Your employees must remove paperclips and staples from documents and slowly feed a few sheets at a time into the paper shredder. If the machine jams, it must be fixed. Paper scraps must be cleaned up and the shredding receptacle needs to be emptied. These tasks pull your employees away from their core responsibilities.

Mobile shredding helps your business stay productive. Your mobile shredding provider places security containers throughout your facility, allowing sensitive documents to be discarded fast and securely. Weekly, monthly or quarterly, the contents are collected and destroyed on-site at your business.

4. Cost Savings

In-house shredding isn’t free. Time, employee labor, and shredder upkeep costs add up. A mobile shredding service eliminates the need to buy shredders, repair them when they break, and use employee labor to destroy documents. For a low fee, your documents are routinely destroyed.

5. Compliance Assurance

Many state and federal privacy laws require businesses to have written and verifiable information destruction policies and procedures. To avoid non-compliance penalties, organizations must be able to prove these policies and procedures. A mobile shredding service provides a Certificate of Destruction that proves your compliance with regulatory standards.

Land Shark Shredding offers shredding and destruction services throughout Kentucky and in Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

September is National Preparedness Month

Besides marking the end of Summer and the start of Autumn, September is also National Preparedness Month. Every September, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. This year’s theme is “Prepared, not scared.” In the spirit of National Preparedness Month, we offer several tips for preparing your business for emergencies.

Inform Your Employees

Knowledge is power. The more your employees understand how to prepare for emergencies in their homes and at work, the better. FEMA has excellent tools and tips for promoting emergency awareness and even has free and publications you can order online.

Identify Risks

An important part of disaster and emergency planning is identifying risks in your neighborhood and region. For example, if your business is in a floodplain or near a body of water, flooding is an ever-present risk. But it’s not just natural hazards that pose a threat; health, technology, and human-caused hazards can impact your business. Therefore, identifying any potential risks is critical to preparedness.

Make a Plan

Businesses that have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan are more likely to survive catastrophic events. When making an emergency plan, consider the specific needs of your company. Don’t forget to practice your plan throughout the year. Practice makes perfect!

Back Up Your Data

Your data is one of your most important business assets; back it up regularly. Your data protection plan may include a cloud backup service, offline backup, or both. No matter how you back up your data, store your backup media or data in a secure location.

Protect Your Paper Records

Paper documents generally don’t survive floods, fires, and natural disasters. Store copies of vital business files offsite. First, cull your records inventory by discarding any outdated or expired documents. Your document shredding partner can offer shredding collection containers that allow you to purge old paper records. When the containers are full, your shredding partner will destroy the contents and provide you with a Certificate of Destruction.

The preparedness habits you start today will pay dividends for the rest of the year and beyond.

Land Shark Shredding offers shredding and destruction services in Bowling Green and throughout southwest Kentucky. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

10 Privacy Protection Tips

Businesses around the world run the risk of being attacked by cyber criminals and identity thieves. Does your company have a reliable privacy protection plan? Use the following tips to keep your organization safe:

1. Monitor Your Credit

Not keeping an eye on your credit can wreck your business finances. Request your business credit report annually from one or all of the three major business credit reporting agencies: Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. Check your credit report for errors and report any suspicious activity.

2. Lock Down Your Mail

Porch pirates steal mail and packages from businesses, too. Once they have your name, address, and other personal information, they can apply for credit on your behalf. Arrange to have someone on site to receive business deliveries and go to the post office when mailing business correspondence, bill payments, and other sensitive documents.

3. Post Wisely

Your social media footprint increases your vulnerability to identity theft. Criminals use social engineering techniques to exploit any valuable information you post about your business, customers, employees, finances, and anything else they can use. Be careful what you post online. Limit your social media posts to information that is safe to share with the public.

4. Shred Unwanted Documents

Thieves steal sensitive documents from corporate dumpsters and curbside trash and recycling bins. Use a mobile shredding service to prevent your confidential information from falling into the wrong hands. They can even place locked collection containers in your facility and shred the contents on a scheduled basis to make information security easy.

5. Think Before Swiping

Criminals steal credit card data by installing small devices called skimmers on credit card payment terminals and other point-of-sale devices. Skimmers fit over an existing card reader and are very hard to spot. Fuel pump terminals are especially vulnerable to skimming, since they aren’t equipped with EMV chip readers. Let employees with corporate credit cards know: If the card reader wiggles, don’t use it. Better yet, pay for gas inside rather than at the pump.

6. Use Public WiFi Sparingly

Using public WiFi hotspots makes your data susceptible to third party theft. Cybercriminals eavesdrop on WiFi signals and use malware to steal user login and password credentials. If employees need to work remotely and use public Wi-Fi networks, set up a virtual private network (VPN) first and require them to use it.

7. Use a Password Manager

Passwords are the Achilles’ heel of data security. Many employees use one or two easy-to-remember passwords for every website. Fortunately, for just a few dollars, a password manager generates individual, hard-to-crack passwords for every website you use so your login data always stays secure. It stores your login credentials securely and inputs them automatically the next time you visit that website.

8. Don’t Take Phishing Bait

Phishing emails look like authentic emails sent from colleagues, customers, vendors, or financial institutions. Never click on an attachment or link in an email unless your one hundred percent sure it’s from a person you know. Always check the sender’s email address. When in doubt, call the sender to verify that the link or attachment they sent is authentic.

9. Back Up Your Data

Cybercriminals use ransomware to steal data and extort money from businesses. It holds the targeted user’s data hostage until they pay to get it back. Create a complete backup and recovery plan to ensure that it can’t be held hostage and you always have access to your critical business information.

10. Secure Your Devices

Hackers exploit security vulnerabilities in mobile devices. Out-of-date software on smartphones, laptops, and tablets puts corporate data at risk. Always follow prompts to update your devices’ software or you may miss valuable security patches.

For more privacy protection tips, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

Land Shark Shredding offers shredding and destruction services in Bowling Green and throughout southwest Kentucky.

Dispelling 5 Common Document-Shredding Myths

In an age of increased identity theft and expanding privacy regulations, more organizations understand the importance of shredding sensitive and confidential records than ever before. But not every organization uses best practices when destroying documents. Commonly-held misbeliefs often thwart secure shredding efforts. In this blog, we dispel five common document shredding myths.

Myth 1: Keeping Documents Keeps You Out of Trouble

While it’s necessary to keep certain documents for several years, such as tax files, keeping paper records past their retention lifespan increases your exposure to identity theft and business fraud. When documents reach a final disposition date, have them shredded.

Myth 2: In-House Shredding Is Secure

The widely-held misconception that in-house shredding offers unparalleled privacy protection is false. In fact, the opposite is true. In-house shredding increases an organization’s privacy breach exposure. Internal shredding policies are difficult to monitor and enforce, making it easy for a disgruntled or dishonest employee to steal confidential documents.

Outsourced shredding is much more secure. Your shredding company provides secure, locked collection containers. Whole files with staples and paperclips can be deposited into the collection containers in, and your documents are kept under lock and key until they are destroyed within a secure chain of custody using the most advanced shredding technology available.

Myth 3: Recycling Is Better Than Shredding

The health of our planet is reaching a critical juncture, and paper recycling is an absolute must. But confidential documents should never be recycled without first being shredded. Fortunately, with a professional shredding service, you never have to choose between secure document destruction and paper recycling. Partnering with an environmentally-responsible shredding vendor offers both.

Myth 4: Professional Shredding Is Too Expensive

A professional shredding service is very cost effective, especially compared to in-house shredding. Investing in professional shredding eliminates buying office shredders and paying employees to shred documents. For a low fee, you gain a secure and dependable document destruction solution.

Myth 5: All Shredding Companies Are the Same

It’s true, any company can shred documents. But few shredding providers offer unrivaled accountability and security like a member company. They must maintain a minimum amount of general liability insurance (umbrella or aggregate) of $2,000,000. They are also audited regularly to verify their ongoing compliance with National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) standards. Choosing a NAID AAA Certified shredding and destruction company takes privacy protection to the next level.

Land Shark Shredding offers shredding and destruction services in Bowling Green and throughout southwest Kentucky. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

Choosing Between an On-Site or Off-Site Shredding Service

In the past, using office shredders to shred outdated paper records was acceptable. Now, most organizations understand the risk of using them as a document destruction solution. In earlier blogs, we’ve even discussed the ways office shredders increase your company’s identity theft exposure.

Today, more companies understand that hiring a document destruction partner saves time and money and reduces privacy breach risks. But how do you decide whether to choose a provider that offers on-site shredding or off-site shredding? In this blog, we compare both services so you can make the right choice for your business.

Off-Site Shredding

Off-site shredding services collect documents from your business and take them to a facility for destruction. The problem is, anything can happen to your confidential paper documents on the way to the shredding plant. The driver can forget to lock the back door to the truck, spilling your paper records onto the highway. Your files change hands multiple times before they’re destroyed, increasing the risk of a privacy breach.

Some companies forgo destruction altogether. Instead, they ship your un-shredded documents overseas for recycling. Off-site shredding vendors try to downplay these risks by touting their high insurance coverage plans. But no amount of money can redeem the loss associated with the bad publicity that follows leaked and compromised personal information.

On-Site Shredding

On-site shredding is a premium service where a specialized mobile paper shredding truck comes to your business. Background-screened professionals collect your documents and immediately take them to a mobile destruction truck for shredding. Destruction takes place in a matter of minutes while you watch.

On-site shredding offers several advantages over off-site shredding:

Your confidential information never leaves your sight. A secure chain of custody begins at your locked security consoles where you discard your sensitive documents without having to worry about them being compromised. A trained shredding technician empties the contents of each console and brings it to the mobile shredding truck for immediate destruction. Your documents don’t leave your parking lot until they’re destroyed and you’re issued a Certificate of Destruction.
When you choose on-site mobile shredding, only one person handles your documents during the destruction process, lowering the risk of a privacy breach.
With on-site shredding, you’re never left wondering whether your documents are destroyed, because you personally witness the shredding process.

On-site shredding offers your business added layers of privacy protection, regulatory compliance, and peace of mind. So, when outsourcing destruction of your paper records, on-site shredding is clearly the best choice.

Land Shark Shredding offers NAID AAA Certified shredding and destruction services in Bowling Green and throughout southwest Kentucky. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

What to Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

Identity theft is when someone wrongly obtains and uses personal information. It’s a growing problem in the United States and identity theft experts warn most Americans will fall victim to the crime during their lifetime. Here’s what to do if you think your personal information has been compromised:

1. Stay Calm

Panic is a normal reaction to having your identity stolen, but it’s important to keep your wits. According to Javelin Research, 14.4 million people had their identities stolen in 2018, so you’re not alone. Staying calm allows you to minimize the damage and get help.

2. Gather Resources

After discovering your personal information is compromised, you must act fast. Jot down details about what accounts have been compromised, so when talking to the authorities, you can answer their questions. Double check your banking and credit card accounts to see if they’ve been compromised. Locate the phone number of your financial institution.

3. Notify Your Credit Card Provider or Bank

You don’t want to be left paying bills for charges you didn’t make, so contact your creditor or bank as soon as possible. Your financial institution will help you remove fraudulent charges and close the compromised account. Going forward, sign up for automatic fraud alerts when opening a new account.

4. Contact a Credit Reporting Agency

To place fraud alerts or security freezes on your credit report, you need to contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies:

Experian: 1-888-397-3742
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

A 90-day fraud alert puts a red flag on your credit report and notifies lenders that they should take extra steps to verify your identity before extending credit. A security freeze prevents new creditors from accessing your credit report. If you choose this option, extra steps will be needed when applying for new credit. There’s no reason to contact all three credit reporting agencies; each is required to notify the other two for you.

5. File a Report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The FTC’s mission is to protect American consumers from identity theft. They have a dedicated identity theft recovery website and will help you fill out an Identity Theft Report. An FTC representative will create an identity theft affidavit to assist you with disputing compromised accounts and fraudulent charges.

6. Call Your Local Police Department

An FTC representative will provide a letter for you to give to law enforcement authorities so they can expedite the identity theft report filing process. Remember to keep a copy of your report and the investigator’s contact information on file for future reference.

Falling victim to identity theft is traumatic. Fortunately, following these steps will get you the help you need.

What Are You Doing with Your Electronic Waste?

In a competitive business world, keeping up with technology is a must. But this doesn’t mean you should throw your old electronic devices in the trash. The world generates 50 million tons of electronic waste a year, contributing to our planet’s deepening environmental crisis. So how do you stay on top of your technological needs while protecting the environment? In this blog, we discuss the benefits of e-waste recycling and what to look for in an e-waste recycling service provider.

Safe and Legal Recycling

The US EPA and state and federal governments are tracking the e-waste disposal practices of companies. Donating your old devices to charities or allowing your employees to buy used electronics is risky because your data can be recovered from them. Plus, the liability for environmental hazards could fall back on your company if the devices aren’t recycled at the end of their lifecycles. The safest way to protect your organization is to partner with a legally-compliant electronics recycler.

An e-waste recycling service protects your organization by making it easy to recycle outdated IT assets. A professional provider comes to your business and picks up your old devices. If sensitive data is stored on your electronics, your provider destroys them on site with a mobile shredding vehicle. Your e-waste is transported to an authorized recycler and you receive documentation showing proof of recycling. At the recycling facility, your devices are either refurbished, harvested for reuse or resale, or turned into usable raw materials to make other products.

Choosing the Right Electronic Waste Recycling Partner

Given the volume of e-waste businesses generate, the market for e-waste recycling is robust. But not all recycling providers are equal. Many companies illegally export unprocessed equipment with hazardous and toxic materials to developing countries. So how can you be sure your electronic waste is recycled here in the United States? Partner with a company that has a “No Export” policy so you know your electronic waste is recycled legally and safely. Make sure your recycling provider works closely with the following organizations:

US EPA
Department of Natural Resources
e-Steward Initiative
Local solid waste departments

The environmental problems caused by electronic waste may continue to grow, but your organization can stem the tide by partnering with a qualified e-waste recycling provider.

Land Shark Shredding offers eWaste recycling services in Bowling Green and throughout southwest Kentucky. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

Your Paper Shredding Questions, Answered

You can never know too much about document shredding best practices. In this blog, we’ve collected paper shredding questions from current and prospective customers and provided our answers. Read on to learn how to improve your document shredding program.

Q: What should I shred?

A: Shred every unwanted document that has personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI). Thieves can exploit even small, seemingly-insignificant tidbits of data to steal someone’s identity and finances. So, if in doubt, don’t throw it out—shred instead.

Q: What’s the difference between off-site and on-site shredding?

A: On-site shredding takes place at your business in real time. Companies that offer off-site shredding pick up your documents and transport them to a shredding plant, where they could sit for days or weeks before shredding. And there’s no telling what could happen to your confidential information while it’s en route to the shredding facility. On-site shredding doesn’t have the same risks. Your documents are shredded in a few minutes while you watch. As a result, on-site shredding offers a much more thorough and secure identity theft and business fraud prevention solution.

Q: Is a shredding service expensive?

A: A shredding service is very cost effective, especially compared to in-house shredding. A shredding service eliminates having to buy shredders and using valuable employees to shred documents and deal with breakdowns. Instead, for a low fee, a shredding service gives you a secure and reliable document destruction solution.

Q: How do I prepare my documents for professional shredding?

A: You don’t need to. Unlike in-house shredding, where staples and paperclips must be removed from documents, with a shredding service you deposit your files into a shredding collection container. The industrial-grade shredders on an on-site mobile destruction truck even destroy non-paper items. The bottom line is, professional shredding saves time and keeps you productive.

Q: What qualifications does someone need to shred my documents?

A: The person shredding your documents should be screened, certified, insured, and wear an identification badge. They should always handle your documents within a strict chain of custody. With the right shredding company only the most qualified, trustworthy people shred your documents.

Q: Do shredding companies provide proof of shredding?

A: Shredding companies should offer proof of shredding to their customers, but not all do. Only partner with a shredding company who offers a Certificate of Destruction after every service.

Q: Are professionally-shredded documents recycled?

A: Yes. After your documents are shredded, the shreds are transported to a paper mill for reprocessing and production into new packaging, office paper, tissue, newsprint, and a multitude of other paper products.

If you have a question we haven’t answered here, please ask us. We love answering your questions.

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