Information Integrity

In today’s society, it is important to keep your information private and secure. If your personal information gets in the hands of the wrong person, your identity can be stolen, your credit ruined, and you will have to sort the mess out on your own. One way to make sure your information stays private is to destroy your old documents with a paper shredder. Depending on the model, you can shred multiple papers at a time, and some even allow you to shred old computer disks, credit cards, and checks. They vary greatly in price, and each has different capabilities. For the average user, a smaller capacity cross-cut shredder should be sufficient; a business may want to invest in a larger, diamond cut shredder. Either one is very easy to use, and requires very little maintenance (Shredder oil, for example, is inexpensive and one bottle lasts a long time. This is usually the only preventative maintenance that needs to be done on a shredder). Regardless, think of the purchase of a shredder as a type of “insurance policy.” The money and stress it could save you is well worth the price. Getting your identity back once it has been stolen is a long, hard process. Using a paper shredder is one of the most effective ways of preventing identity theft from happening.