Questions to Ask Your Data Destruction Service Provider Before Contracting

Information theft and data breaches can be dangerous to a business of any size, making data destruction services more important than ever. Handling your data destruction in house is simply not the best decision for most businesses, and therefore, you will need to find a reliable partner. When looking for a data destruction service, there are many questions to ask to ensure you’ve done your due diligence.

Are They NAID Certified?

If the data destruction services you are considering aren’t certified, they aren’t the right company for you. Handing over your most sensitive data to another party is a serious undertaking, and you need to make sure that you have done everything in your power to ensure that your data is transported and destroyed as safely as possible. Look for NAID certification, as well as a data destruction company who conducts regular audits of their own practices and can provide you with a certificate of destruction once your data has been destroyed. A NAID certification (National Associate for Information Destruction) remains the gold standard for data destruction certification and signifies that you are working with a company who takes your information protection very seriously. NAID membership has been phased out of the industry, but the certification process remains. Part of your due diligence as a business owner is protecting your company’s sensitive data. It’s important to understand that NAID membership, while no longer valid, is not the same as holding a NAID certification.

What Types of Data Destruction Services Do They Provide?

Shredding services are nearly always provided for paperwork, but in a digital world, you need to find data destruction services that can handle all your needs. You want a partner who can handle destruction of any and all types of media and hardware, including hard drives, computers, microfiche, CDs, zip drives, DVDs, and other file storage hardware. When it comes to shredding, your data destruction partner should provide more than what a simple office shredder can handle. Industrial shredders can handle information destruction in a truly secure way, but not every data destruction company has the equipment necessary to destroy old hardware, and simply wiping a hard drive clean isn’t enough.

What Happens to Hardware Waste?

You may have heard that wiping a hard drive clean is like a factory reset to restore a hard drive to an empty storage setting. However, that isn’t the case, and even after a hard drive has been wiped, or cleaned, the data within can still be retrieved by someone who knows how to do it. This could potentially put you, your customers, and your company and staff at risk. To be sure no data can be retrieved from an old hard drive that is no longer needed, we recommend physically destroying the hard drive with commercial equipment designed to do just that. Not all data destruction services have the capabilities to do this, so it’s important to ask.

Disposing of old computer hardware is unfortunately just part of the evolution of technology, but it can be done in an environmentally friendly way. At AccuShred, we ensure that all electronic hardware waste that can be recycled is done so in accordance with all federal regulations.

Do You Provide On- or Off-Site Services?

AccuShred offers both services. There are certainly advantages to both options of secure data destruction. On-site means we shred your documents at your place of business in front of you. If you choose to have your documents shredded off-site, one of our secure box trucks will pick up your documents from a secure locked box and return it to our facility to be shredded within 72 hours of arrival.

Our GPS tracked vehicles keep your data secure in transit and enable us to always know who is driving your data, and where it is. Once your data has been securely destroyed, whether on or off-site, you’ll be issued a certificate of destruction.

Data destruction and information protection are very important, and finding the right data destruction services partner is the first crucial step to take in keeping your data secure. Asking the right questions will ensure you find the right data destruction service to handle your company’s needs. Choosing a reliable, secure, and certified company is the right way to handle your data security. If you’re looking for a data destruction company to handle your outdated information and digital equipment securely, or you’re frustrated with your current provider, contact AccuShred today.