MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

SELECTSHRED OFFERS TIPS

TO AVOID IDENTITY THEFT, FINES AND PENALTIES

OVER IMPROPER DESTRUCTION AND DISPOSAL OF CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

STUART, Florida/October 22, 2013 – The experts at SelectShred, Inc., a locally owned and operated company that provides secure on-site document shredding and on-site hard drive destruction service throughout Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties, say this is the time of the year to reassess your compliance with a variety of regulations on document security. Especially if your business is in or related to healthcare, government operations, and financial services, or if your business uses consumer credit information.

“Today, everyone is aware of the significant impact identity theft can have on personal finances. However, with changing laws and regulations related to identity theft, many businesses are not aware of their liability should they be connected, even inadvertently, to identity theft,” said Richard Kinkead, co-founder, SelectShred, Inc.  According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, identity theft has become the world’s fastest-growing crime.

Three major laws and the liabilities of identity theft are forcing a number of businesses to reassess the way they handle and discard sensitive documents. The penalties associated with violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) are significant and affect a wide range of business practices.

“Lawyers, banks and financial services, all health care providers and, in some cases, even the vendors who service those types of businesses, face liability costs, civil fines, and monetary penalties. For example, HIPAA penalties can be $100 per violation and up to an annual maximum of $1.5 million,” added Kinkead. “Criminal penalties are also possible up to $50,000 and one year in prison for obtaining or disclosing protected health information. That includes a practice, business, or business owner who simply tosses whole records or reconstructable shredded records into a trash bin or a recycling bin,” noted Kinkead.

SelectShred offers the following tips to make sure your business is not setting up a scenario for fines and imprisonment for failing to properly destroy sensitive documents and media, including computer hard drives and copier hard drives.

Always use a National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) AAA Certified on-site/mobile shredding service and shred the following:

• All accounting and financial documentation
• All customer support documentation
• All human resource documentation
• All sales and marketing documentation
• All operations and technical support documentation
• Any material that includes your company name or customer information
  • All correspondence such as memos, letters, business cards, credit card information
• All e-mails and fax correspondence
  • Reports, records, files, studies, analyses, bids, budgets, forecasts, blueprints, associated files and records, support and training material, diskettes, videotapes, CDs, microfiche, transparencies, photos, carbon paper, etc.
• Proprietary business information.

Remember, if your business is a hospital or medical practice, protected health information (PHI) should be shredded. This includes:

• IV bag label with patient’s name and name of drug
• Daily patient lists maintained by floor nurses
• Drug vials and prescriptions
• Databases used in research labs
• Billing information
• Registration records
• Lab reports
• EKGs, EEGs, and other medical device printouts
• MRI and Radiology film and/digital prints
• Ultrasound reports

“It is important that business owners and managers know recycling documents is not secure document destruction because the ‘chain of custody’ is broken. You cannot guarantee what leaves your business for recycling is actually destroyed. Shred onsite first – then recycle,” said Kinkead.

SelectShred’s professional onsite shredding approach ensures that documents are destroyed before leaving the client’s site.  This eliminates the potential liability for those documents as well as the need to further monitor discarded confidential information. Most document security experts suggest that companies that use haul-away shredding services – including recycling companies – face increased risk and liability.

“Even self-shredding (the practice of using office shredders) cannot produce the same level of security as professional on-site document destruction. Also, supporting documentation is critical for demonstrating best business practices and for showing that reasonable measures were taken should a company experience an alleged information security breach in the future and face penalties, fines, or prosecution” concluded Kinkead.

For a free analysis of your information breach liability and to identify red flags, contact SelectShred, Inc. today. SelectShred, Inc. is a locally owned and operated company that provides secure on-site document shredding and on-site hard drive destruction service throughout Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties. SelectShred staff is committed to providing quality mobile document destruction service and superb customer service. SelectShred issues a Certificate of Destruction for your compliance records following every service. This certificate documents that you have a compliant and secure document destruction program in place.

SelectShred can provide assistance in reviewing and preparing written document destruction policies and procedures, as well as assist in staff training for your secure document destruction program. For more information call (772) 463-3166 or visit the SelectShred website at www.SelectShred.com. SelectShred – Protecting People and Preserving the Environment.

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SELECTSHRED | MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVICING PALM BEACH AND THE TREASURE COAST

SELECTSHRED-FOR SECURE DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION, SHREDDING AND RECYCLING ARE NOT THE SAME

Everyone wants to be green and it’s a good thing. However, when it comes to making sure that you are compliant with the federal laws and regulations that govern your industry and when you are charged with fulfilling the obligations of safeguarding the confidential information in your custody, you should destroy first and then recycle. For all the businesses and individuals on the Treasure Coast and in the Palm Beaches, the word of warning is shred first―then recycle. Recycling without first destroying confidential media is not a secure method of disposing of confidential information and renders a business vulnerable to the liabilities and penalties of information security breaches.

Businesses are required and obligated by laws and regulations(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-HIPAA, Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act-FACTA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act-GLBA) to destroy and dispose securely of confidential information to reduce the risk of consumer fraud and identity theft. Shredding is the most common acceptable method of destruction and is considered as taking reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of information when it is disposed. Material sent for recycling is often manually sorted in usable and intact form, rendering that confidential information vulnerable to misuse. Recycling also provides no documentation that confidential information has been securely destroyed.

The practice of using recycling as a method of discarding confidential information will not provide appropriate legal protection in case of an information security breach. Recycling will not provide a certificate of destruction but an on-site third party shredding service will provide a certificate of destruction and prove that a business took all reasonable measures to avoid an information security breach and will also provide appropriate legal protection. Don’t let sensitive information get into the wrong hands. Recycling can present the same vulnerabilities as putting confidential information in the trash.

To everyone in Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Rio, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Sewall’s Point, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens, remember you are still green when you shred first with a reputable, responsible mobile shredding service because all shredded materials are recycled into new paper products.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SelectShred, Inc.

T: (772) 463-3166

info@selectshred.com

SELECTSHRED-SHREDDING IN PORT ST. LUCIE SHREDDING IN FORT PIERCE

SelectShred is enjoying shredding in Port St. Lucie. The businesses and residents of St. Lucie County know a good deal when they see one but most of all they are concerned about shredding their confidential documents in a secure manner. Businesses and individuals in Port St. Lucie are watching their budgets like everyone throughout the Treasure Coast but they want to do the right thing every time. Continue making the good calls of shredding securely, conveniently, and economically.

Whether you have one box in the closet, ten boxes in the attic, or hundreds of boxes in storage, SelectShred is ready and able to get the job done. Service with a smile might be cliché but that is how we roll and we want to continue rolling into the lives of those on the Treasure Coast by doing our part to help them remain safe from the dumpster divers and all those who fight to rob them of their peace of mind. Our goal is to build relationships along the way and be there to help with your one-time purges or recurring shredding service. Sensitive information should never be allowed to get into the wrong hands. All of us – businesses and individuals – have information to keep safe from the cradle to the grave. Social security numbers, driver’s license information, credit card information, bank statements, tax records are just a few of the important documents to safeguard and to destroy securely when no longer needed.

We continue to reach out to all our future customers from Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Rio, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Sewall’s Point, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens to call today and shred wisely by making sure that your confidential documents are shredded in your presence.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SelectShred, Inc.

T: (772) 463-3166

info@selectshred.com

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SELECTSHRED- MOBILE SHREDDING IN PORT ST LUCIE AND MOBILE SHREDDING FORT PIERCE- WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER A CONSOLE

SelectShred is encouraging businesses to consider a console. We think that for as low as pennies a day a shredding console could provide offices in Palm Beach County, Martin County, St. Lucie County, and Indian River County with another way of thinking about document security. Unimaginable security and peace of mind await you on the Treasure Coast and beyond. We want to encourage more offices to stop hoarding hundreds of boxes to be shredded at some distant time in the future. Most importantly, save time and money by not feeding the office shredder. We believe that there is a console worth of security and peace of mind in your future. Service is customized to fit your needs on a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly service. You are only billed when we empty the console and no service contracts are necessary.

A console will secure your confidential documents until they are shredded at your location by our security screened and trained document security technician. The console is 35”Hx19”Wx19”D. Not only are your documents protected in a free lockable and secured container, the console is aesthetically pleasing and blends into any office environment. As you move toward your paperless office and scan your confidential documents, a console can securely keep your documents until they are shredded. A console and a recurring mobile shredding service can help you to be compliant with federal regulations and avoid fines, worry, and lost reputation by safeguarding the confidential information in your possession. All shredded paper is recycled into new paper products.

We reach out to all our future customers from Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Sewall’s Point, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens to call today and a console will be delivered promptly.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SelectShred, Inc.

T: (772) 463-3166

info@selectshred.com

SELECTSHRED NEWS-JUN 2013 ON SITE SHREDDING SERVING PALM BEACH AND THE TREASURE COAST 

SELECTSHRED NEWS JUNE 2013

ON SITE SHREDDING SERVING PALM BEACH AND THE TREASURE COAST

DEFINING THE PRODUCTS OF A DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION SERVICE

Considering that document destruction is a service, we also need to realize that the products of a shredding service are security, convenience and economy. Although a good shredding company will stress the importance of security to its clients, most clients are more concerned with convenience and economy.

Security should be the cornerstone of your document destruction program. If you are not using a secure document destruction service, you are probably only recycling your paper with confidential information, casually discarding it, or it is simply hanging around the office in unsecured boxes waiting for a time for you to call a shredding company.  The most secure way is to use a NAID AAA certified company, use locked containers for your confidential documents, and have those documents shredded at your location.

Convenience is important but don’t just have your documents transported away to be  shredded at another facility at a later date. Have your designated staff members witness the shredding at your location and receive a certificate of destruction for your record in case of a complaint, an audit, or a security breach.

Everyone has a budget and is watching the dollar. However, do not be penny wise and pound foolish. The lowest estimate is usually not the wisest move to make. Always consider building a relationship with your shredding company, look at qualifications, and know your rights as a client for a reputable document destruction company. Some people are not sure where their documents are shredded.  You should know!

Building a relationship with your shredding provider will go a long way to avoiding identity theft and information theft.

Products of Document Destruction  Service: Security, Convenience, Economy

Think SECURITY first — then Convenience and Economy for the utmost protection and destruction of your confidential documents.

DID YOU KNOW?

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) has been the industry’s association since 1992. It is an international organization with about 30% of NAID membership outside the U.S. 

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, including from North Palm Beach to Fort Pierce

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Port St. Lucie

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Stuart

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Palm City

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Jupiter

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING West Palm Beach

MOBILE SHREDDING COMPANY SERVING Palm Beach Gardens

Throughout the nation, and in our areas of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, including from North Palm Beach to Fort Pierce, it’s a battle every day to stay ahead of the identity thieves and dumpster divers as they continue to rob us of our sense of security and peace of mind. The right thing to do and always the most secure action to take is to destroy all confidential information that is not necessary for keeping longer than you should. Let’s start with those credit card offer letters that always appear in the mailbox. They seem so harmless but don’t leave them hanging around forever.  Shred them.  If you have them tucked away year after year, along with numerous other documents, then you will need your onsite shredding shredding/mobile shredding company to go to your location and shred those documents before they get into the wrong hands.  Here is a list of some other sensitive information you should shred: credit/debit card receipts, old tax records, insurance records, bank statements, cancelled checks, health records, financial documents, and all other documents with your social security number and driver’s license number. If there is no reason to keep these confidential documents—shred them. For the large and seemingly insurmountable pile of information that you have accumulated over the years, use a mobile shredding service.  It will be gone in no time.  Just double check that you really don’t need the information because when it is hoisted into the shred truck it is gone for good. The only way the paper is coming back to you is in the form of new paper products. Just remember that you cannot afford to throw your confidential information in the garbage and hope for the best and think nothing bad will happen.  SelectShred is here to help you conquer the clutter, achieve security, and shred those old documents. It is more economical and convenient than you think to have the sense of security and the peace of mind that you deserve.  All our friends from Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach,  Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens, let’s get serious and shred all those old and unnecessary records. You cannot put a price on peace of mind.  Shred securely, shred frequently, and discard responsibly.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SelectShred, Inc.

T: (772) 463-3166

info@selectshred.com

SELECTSHRED – TO BE KNOWN AS MORE THAN A NUMBER

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION-HOBE SOUND MOBILE SHREDDING

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION-PALM BEACH MOBILE SHREDDING

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION-PALM BEACH GARDENS SHREDDING

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION-JENSEN BEACH MOBILE SHREDDING

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION-FORT PIERCE MOBILE SHREDDING

SelectShred wants to build a relationship with its customers and not just provide quotes.  We know that your budget is important but our interest is in finding out more about you so that we can blend your needs with our services.  We believe in customizing our services to fit your needs.  For example, if you have a large a number of boxes to shred, we know that budgetary constraints will apply more than if you only plan to shred 10 boxes.  Maybe, if we can talk to you, you may realize that you can benefit from on demand services rather than waiting months or years to cleanout multiple boxes for a one-time purge. This great purge process only encourages procrastination and a feeling of dread in contemplating the arduous task to be tackled. The proverbial can continues to be kicked down the road while shredding takes a back seat. Meanwhile, piles of sensitive information are hanging around the office or in storage for longer than it needs to be held.

Some documents need to be kept for a set retention period but most personal confidential information should be properly discarded in a timely manner.  A NAID AAA certified company can put you on a schedule that can help you avoid holding onto the confidential information in your custody for no longer than you need to keep it.  Government agencies that believe that they do not have to safeguard the confidential information because they deal with public information still run the risk of negative publicity if sensitive information is traced back to them because proper disposal procedures were not in place.  Proper document destruction procedures keep all of us safe from identity theft and keep the costs down for everyone when securing and discarding your sensitive documents become more than a one-time event. SelectShred invites all of Northern Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, including Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Hobe Sound, Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, and Fort Pierce to think outside the box and embrace the concept of scanning and the paperless office while still understanding that proper disposal of any confidential information will still be a top priority as we work on achieving that paperless office.

SelectShred also invites all businesses and individuals to keep an open mind and see what other options are available to you to safeguard the confidential information in your possession by not just receiving a quote but by having an open discussion about the benefits of forming a relationship with your document shredding company.

CALL: (772) 463-3166

EMAIL: INFO@SELECTSHRED.COM

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

There is a time and place for everything and certainly the home/office shredder has a place in our lives sometimes. However, many companies would have us believe that their employees are lining up happily waiting to feed paper into an office shredder. The truth is that office shredders are a chore to use but a recurring shredding service is secure, economical, and convenient, while office shredders require maintenance and frequent replacement. Office shredders decrease productivity and decrease profitability, costing at least twice as much to use as a recurring mobile shredding service. It is more likely that employees are so busy with other assignments, shredding is not a priority and sits in piles around the office until one day when they get around to it. Office shredders are burning out and jamming with enough frequency to burn out the office staff. Office shredders provide no record of a compliant document destruction program but a NAID AAA certified company provides documentation if legal issues arise.

Remember that the shredded paper placed in plastic bags and thrown in the trash carry every bit of information you tried to destroy and you have no legal ownership of the trash – just ownership of the bad publicity due to misuse of information discovered in the dumpster. Also, it is easier to avoid large fines if you have a document security program in place that is compliant with federal regulations. SelectShred is not engaging in a war on home/office shredders but seeking to show that when security, economy, and convenience are of paramount importance, then outsourcing your shredding services are best for safeguarding the confidential information in your possession. Throughout Northern Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, including Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Hobe Sound, Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, and Fort Pierce, SelectShred is ready to shred your confidential documents and issue a certificate of destruction for your record. Without a reputable shredding service, you have no record of compliance in case of an audit, complaint, or legal challenge.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SELECTSHRED-THE REAL REASON WHY PEOPLE SHRED VERSUS THE REAL REASON WHY PEOPLE SHOULD SHRED

SelectShred has noticed that a primary real reason why people shred is because they have run out of space in their businesses or in their residences. Throughout Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, including from North Palm Beach to Fort Pierce, people are shredding because they no longer have room to store all of the boxes of paper that they have accumulated over many years. Another reason that has been given for shredding is that the file cabinet was so full that it fell over causing serious bodily injury and therefore hastened the need for the injured person to shred. SelectShred has been called on to shred for farms, RV companies, and theatres from Fort Pierce, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Jupiter, and Palm Beach Gardens to create space for the accumulation of new documents with specific retention periods (period of time for which records must be kept).

The security and proper disposal of sensitive information are the real reasons for individuals and companies to shred. Security is of the utmost importance for shredding confidential documents to prevent identity theft and information theft. Sensitive information should never be kept for longer than necessary. Many businesses do not realize that other than the documents that are legally required to be held for a specific retention period, they are better off securing and disposing of all other materials in a timely manner. Storing important documents in multiple boxes around the office is far less secure than storing information in locked containers until properly disposed of by scheduled shredding. A document destruction program that is in place using locked consoles or bins until destroyed by SelectShred allows businesses to be compliant with federal regulations that govern their industry. In addition, the certificate of destruction issued by SelectShred provides documentation of a formal secure document destruction program required for regulatory compliance with HIPAA and FACTA.

The lessons to be learned here are to secure confidential information, shred frequently, and dispose responsibly. Avoid waiting for space to run out, bodily injury, or fines to dictate that you properly secure and dispose of all information. Having a secure document destruction program in place is an ongoing document security process and not a one-time event that is months or years in the making.

Richard & Gloria Kinkead

SelectShred, Inc.

T: (772) 463-3166

info@selectshred.com

WHY YOU SHOULD OUTSOURCE YOUR SHREDDING SERVICES

When your business wants to ensure the utmost security for disposing of confidential information, outsourcing your shredding services is your best option. It is inefficient to have an employee feed an office shredder to destroy all of your confidential information.

Using a secure shredding service for your document destruction needs means that you are not relying on your busy staff to destroy in a timely manner your sensitive information. A recurring shredding service minimizes the lifetime of the confidential information in your custody.

A NAID AAA certified company can provide customized services whether you consider yourself a paperless office or a small office. A regularly scheduled service provides shredding services that ensures your daily  security and increases your productivity.

SelectShred’s NAID AAA certification means that the way SelectShred  conducts its business will help to keep your office compliant with federal regulations. Having locked containers to receive all documents to be shredded, having the shredding done at your location, and receiving a certificate of destruction from a NAID AAA certified company ensure the integrity of your document security and destruction program.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU USE AN OFFICE SHREDDER

• Office shredders are a chore to use but a recurring shredding service is secure, economical, and convenient.

• Office shredders decrease productivity and profitability, costing twice as much to use as recurring shredding service.

• Office shredders require maintenance and frequent replacement.

• Office shredders provide no record of a compliant document destruction program if there is ever a legal challenge.

Shredded paper from the office shredder that is placed in plastic bags and thrown in the trash carries every bit of information that you tried to destroy, and you have no legal ownership of the trash — just ownership of the bad publicity due to misuse of the information found in the dumpster. Also, it is easier to avoid large fines if you have a document security program in place that is compliant with federal regulations.

DID YOU KNOW?

Federal laws such as HIPAA and FACTA require your business to protect the confidential information that you have in your custody. Also, the Federal Trade Commission imposes stiff penalties up to millions of dollars on companies that do not safeguard their consumers’ personal information.

Click Here for PDF of the April 2013 Newsletter: SELECTSHRED NEWS-APR2013