As you go on about your business creating documents and acquiring documents through other agencies such as the Government or any other institution that is creating documents. As documents continue piling up, a need to dispose of some of them always comes to mind. When the time comes to have them disposed, which ones do we shred and when?
There are fears that if you dispose of the documents there would be a possibility of a future need.
The storage and the shredding of a document is determined by the document type and need. Some are kept for a lifetime, while some are only kept for a limited time.
Document shredding protects your documents from being exposed to identity theft. If fraudsters access your personal data, they can be used in criminal activities. This can jeopardize your repute and can lead to lengthy unplanned legal battles.
Shredding your documents will minimize such occurrences. Proper document shredding should be done to ensure no two parts of a document can be placed together to get your personal details. This can be done by cross cut shredding which breaks down the documents into very small pieces.
Having your documents shredded is also environmentally friendly and the paper can also be recycled for reuse.
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Sign upWhich document to shred and when?
The number of documents that are stored for a lifetime are usually few and are defined as records.
These are a breakdown of documents and the length of time they can be kept before opting to shred.
Document to shred after transfer of ownership.
Property records such as title deed and lease holds are documents that you cannot shred.
These are legal documents that show proof of ownership. You can only shred your copy after transferring ownership to another person.
Log books for vehicle ownership are also in this category. When the vehicle is resold the ownership is transferred to the purchaser then you can shred your copy
Documents to shred after seven to ten years
Income tax returns are kept for a period of 7 years in some countries and sometimes even goes up to ten years. In some countries, the tax man now accepts digital documents as long as they are legible and can be traced.
The need for keeping the paper documents is reducing and we hope that in the coming years it will not be a necessity. It is usually safer to keep them for a much longer period than the intended time as a precaution.
Financial statements which track a company’s performance also require to be stored for a number of years with a minimum of seven years before them disposing of.These include profit & loss statements and balance sheet. Accounts payables, Account receivables, invoices and expenses report.It is also safer to keep these documents for longer than the intended period before disposing or have them stored in the digital format.
Documents to shred after five years
Employee information – Employee information such as ID copies, NHIF numbers, NSSF number, pension plan, salary records.
According to Kenyan law these are documents that should be kept for five years even after termination of employment. This is done in case of legal repercussions initiated by the employee.
Documents that you should not shred
Personal documents like identity card, birth certificate, driving license, education certificates, marriage certificates, home purchase documents, passports These documents are retained for a lifetime. These are documents provided by Government agencies for identification and legal use.
Company’s certificate of incorporation, Pin certificate, VAT certificate, business license.
Documents to shred immediately
There are certain documents that you should shred immediately you are done with them on a personal level. This is to ensure security of your personal details.
Examples of these documents include ATM receipts, Sales receipts, utility bills paid can be scanned and stored in digital format, then the paper version destroyed. Canceled cheques, expired warranties, signed documents that are no longer needed should also be disposed of immediately. The personal details allow the documents to be susceptible to identity theft.
Personal bills, bank statements and receipts shredding should be done on a continuous basis. These are documents which can accumulate because they are created on a continuous basis.
If kept, they can accumulate to large volumes. If there is a retention policy in place, it will enable consistency in disposing of these documents. These are documents best kept in the digital format.
Best way to shred your confidential documents
Home or Office shredder
Having a home or office shredder will help you shred your sensitive documents. Though convenient, the security of your information is not assured.(How to choose the right paper shredder)
This is because the small shredders do not completely destroy the documents thus the shredded pieces can be placed together and information acquired.
Using a commercial shredding company
Using a commercial shredding provider will ensure that your documents are shredded to miniscule sizes that cannot be placed together to gather information.
They also ensure that the shredding process is handled with care for the security of your confidential information.
How to protect your documents
Go paperless. Have all your documents in digital format. Store the documents in a central repository whereby you can access by the use of a password or key.
Have your documents sent to you in digital format from your vendors, your bank statements can also be in digital format to ease storage and minimize access by scrupulous parties. This will increase protection of your documents and information.
Conclusion
The best process to shred your documents is to adhere to a retention policy. This gives a clear and defined direction to the way documents are disposed of in a company. It creates consistency across the board, whereby everybody is on the same level.This also prevents identity theft.
Companies tend to accumulate lots of duplicate documents. These occupy lots of space in storage. The duplicate paper documents are usually stored as a backup of the original document. Sometimes a document can be reproduced quite a number of times. This is especially when a document is being used by a number of staff. These should be aligned and disposed of through shredding and not left lying around the office. Instead of producing many duplicate copies it is best to share the document as a digital copy.
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