A Quick Guide to Protecting Your
Customers’ Privacy

Your customers are your most important asset; without them, you’d be out of business. That’s why safeguarding the financial and personal information collected from them is critical. Here’s a quick guide to help you protect your customers’ privacy.

Supplement Your Backup Strategy with Data Protection

Backing up customer information isn’t enough; you also need a reliable and secure data protection plan. If a backup tape or hard drive falls into the wrong hands, your customers may fall prey to identity theft.

The most secure place to store your backup media is offsite in a media vault. A media vault features a multiple-layered security system to protect tapes and hard drives. A steel door with a combination lock keeps intruders out, while a motion-activated video camera captures images of anyone entering. The right data protection partner will provide a customized media rotation strategy that ensures secure transfer of your backup media to the vault.

Destroy Your Old Hard Drives

Erasing tapes and hard drives doesn’t completely remove sensitive customer data from them. With specialized equipment and software, identity theft criminals can still extract social security numbers, personal health information (PHI) and credit card numbers from erased backup media. Secure destruction is the only way to ensure decommissioned hard drives and tapes aren’t compromised.

A NAID AAA-certified on-site destruction service enables your media to be destroyed at your facility. With a thousand pounds of pressure, a hard drive crusher punches a hole through the drive making customer data completely irretrievable. After your media is destroyed, your provider will give you a Certificate of Hard Drive Destruction.

Use an Off-Site Document Storage Solution

The big problem with storing client documents and files onsite is that there’s no protection from insider theft. A dishonest or disgruntled employee can make off with a treasure trove of client files—virtually undetected. Off-site document storage protects your customers’ information from internal and external threats. Your hard copy records are safeguarded round-the-clock in a document storage facility offering the following security features:

• Surveillance cameras
• Motion sensors
• Alarm systems

Background checked and drug screened professionals handle and manage your documents. Files are picked up from your office and delivered back to you by records center personnel.

Professionally Destroy Paper Documents, Always

It’s never a good idea to toss customer records in the trash, even after they’ve been shredded. A bag of shredded material in a dumpster only tells criminals that there’s valuable information free for the taking. With a professional shredding service, customer documents are collected, destroyed and recycled with a secure chain of custody process, lowering identity theft risks for your clients.

Truly valuing your customers, means doing all you can to protect their privacy.

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.