International Data Privacy Day: How Secure Are You?

Happy International Data Privacy Day! No, you don’t get a public holiday, but you do get a gentle reminder to check a few important things so you can be certain your discarded information is being disposed of securely.

In recent years, data theft has become one of the world’s most prevalent crimes with billions of dollars being lost each year through credit card fraud, identity theft and scams.

All information has a life cycle from creation to use and eventually, disposal. Each stage of this cycle poses inherent privacy and security risks and of all the stages, information disposal/destruction is one of the most misunderstood and overlooked.

“People and organiations need to be as security conscious in the destruction of documents and records as they are in protecting them on their premises,” said Paul Hurst, National Association for Information Destruction, Australia and New Zealand (NAIDANZ) Chairman.

The international Data Privacy Day is a good time to take stock of measures and processes in place to ensure secure information destruction. According to NAIDANZ, ere’s what you should be asking yourself:

  • Who looks after data destruction in your work place and do they understand the inherent security risks and legal implications in the mismanagement of secure information disposal?
  • Are you completely certain that your old hard-drive will not yield sensitive information in the hands of an experienced data thief?
  • Is your data destruction service provider AAA Certified for 100% guaranteed disposal of information?

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