The 3 Most Effective Ways to Protect Your Clients from Identity Theft

Identity theft shouldn’t be taken lightly. If your clients become victims due to your company’s negligence, it could cost your business legally and financially and ruin your reputation. Here are the three most effective ways to protect your clients from identity theft.

1.Protect Your Documents Off-Site

 Secure, off-site document storage is one of the most effective ways to protect your clients from identity theft. Unfortunately, not all off-site storage options provide the same level of document protection.

A commercial records center is the most secure solution. Unlike a self-storage unit or public warehouse, it is designed exclusively to protect paper records. Highly combustible and flammable items are prohibited, the facility is closed to the public, and its interior doors are electronically locked. The premises is protected with the following systems:

• Perimeter alarm with 24/7 monitoring
• Security cameras
• Motion sensors
• Laser beam technology

Unlike a self-storage or public warehouse facility where the public can come and go at will, at a commercial records center, only background–checked employees can gain access to the secured records center. All visitors must register, and be accompanied by a records management professional throughout their visit. Separate areas are designated for authorized visitors to view their company’s records so the records center itself remains secure.

2. Make Data Protection a Priority

 Identity theft results not only from unprotected paper records; your media can also be stolen, exposing your clients to identity theft on a large scale. This is why data protection has to be a top priority in your organization.

A media storage service enhances data protection for your company by making sure your media is protected offsite. On a scheduled basis, your backup tapes, hard drives and microfilm are transferred to a climate-controlled media vault with the following security features:

• Motion detectors
• Video surveillance
• Controlled and monitored access

 Only extensively screened media management professionals are allowed access to the vault. They make sure your media stays safe and secure at all times.

The media vault also provides climate control and light and dust mitigation to keep your data safe, whether it’s a set of rotating backup tapes or a media archive.

3. Outsource Your Information Destruction

In-house information destruction is short-sighted because it fails to eliminate the risks that increase your clients’ exposure to identity theft. When document destruction is left to your employees, personal information often isn’t destroyed on time. It’s easy to understand why, when employees have to use an office paper shredder to destroy documents. Most would rather avoid the time-consuming process of removing staples and paper clips from files and hand feeding documents into a shredder. As a result, expired confidential documents may sit on desktops for days or weeks. Even when documents are destroyed on time, bags of shredded material land in a dumpster, waiting to be stolen by a thief hoping to reconstruct the sensitive information.

Outsourcing your information destruction ensures that none of your clients’ personal information is compromised. Your documents are shredded and mixed with thousands of pounds of information from other clients, making them impossible to reconstruct. The shredded paper is then sent to a trusted recycling partner. With the right shredding and destruction partner, non-paper items such as hard drives and other computer media are destroyed using secure, NAID AAA-Certified processes.

There’s no better combination for keeping your clients safe from identity theft than offsite document storage, professional data protection and outsourced information destruction.

River Mill Data Management provides records storage, data protection and NAID AAA-Certified shredding and destruction services to businesses in Central and South Georgia, as well as select counties in eastern Alabama. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.