Questions to Ask Your Secure Destruction Provider

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Keeping the information about your company and your clients confidential is one of the most important challenges you’ll face as a business dealing with large volumes of private documents and records. Shredding and disposing of media yourself will only bog down your business’s efficiency without providing the best professional practices. For reliable and secure records disposal, find a media destruction provider you can depend on by asking these five questions. 

Are you NAID AAA certified?

Asking if your provider is NAID AAA certified ensures that you are working with secure and qualified professionals, who have been audited by an independent Certified Protection Professional to assess the business’s facility, destruction processes, and hiring procedures, according to the National Association for Information Destruction’s (NAID) guidelines. Because Augusta Data Storage is NAID AAA certified, companies who work with us know that their confidential information will be responsibly destroyed. 

How can I be sure my media has been destroyed?

It can be scary to hand over private documents and records to a third party for destruction. For your peace of mind, it’s important to make sure the company you’re working with offers an indisputable guarantee of service completion. For every round of destruction, Augusta Data Storage issues an official Certificate of Destruction, providing the exact details of what was destroyed and when, so that you can feel confident in our work.

What is the document destruction process?

Knowing the official process of your media destruction provider will confirm that your records are handled responsibly. Find out who’s in charge of destroying your media and how it’s done. Shredding is known to be the most secure data destruction process to date, as your confidential information is incapable of being restored. 

At Augusta Data Storage, a team of fully trained and background-checked professionals shred your documents into unrecoverable pieces, which are then mixed with the remnants of documents from other companies. Electronics are destroyed in a similar fashion, shredded and recycled, rather than sent to a landfill.

Do you provide on- and off-site services?

On-Site Destruction Services
A myriad of destruction services can now be offered both on- and off-site, be sure to ask what options your provider offers to ensure they’ll fulfill your media destruction needs. With on-site destruction services, like those Augusta Data Storage offers through our mobile unit, important documents and devices never leave your property, and you’re able to watch the entire shredding process as it happens. 

Off-Site Destruction Services
For off-site destruction services, it’s important to be sure your media destruction provider isn’t outsourcing to a third party. When handled properly, this option involves an efficient and secure state-of-the-art facility. In both on-site and off-site destruction, Augusta Data Storage promises trained employees and strict, limited access to our destruction facilities, so there is no doubt that your records will be securely and capably destroyed.

How is paper pulp and e-scrap handled after shredding?

When choosing a media destruction provider, ask not only how your records are destroyed, but what happens afterward. Green recycling practices are critical for reducing your environmental impact as a company, so your media destruction provider should use local recycling services to dispose of your waste and e-waste in a way that’s environmentally friendly. After the shredding process, Augusta Data Storage transfers the irrecoverable remains to a local facility to be recycled into new paper supplies. As of 2016, we now also offer e-recycling, so shredded devices can be securely destroyed without harming the environment. 

Asking providers these questions ensures you’re dealing with a dependable, fully vetted establishment, able to keep your company safe and your workspace organized. As a media destruction provider, Augusta Data Storage offers advanced, secure, environmentally responsible services, conducted through only the best practices. Contact one of our account managers today to learn more about the tools we have developed to help you manage your Records Information Management processes.