Why Organizations Need a Written Information Destruction Policy

Increasing attention to information protection and, more specifically, recent state and federal regulations, require that all organizations have written policies and procedures to protect personal information.

Proper information destruction is among those aspects of data protection that are receiving the most attention form policy makers. Improperly discarded personal information is one of the leading causes of privacy violations and Identity Theft. As a result, laws now necessitate that such information be properly destroyed when discarded. These same laws also mandate that policies and procedures for destroying discarded information be established in writing.

Documenting the policies and procedures governing an organization’s proper information disposal is important not only to establish that employees are given sufficient direction, but also to assure regulators, as well as customers, that the organization recognizes practices and enforces their responsibilities.

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Without such written policies and procedures, an organization runs the likely risk of being found negligent in demonstrating the ability to properly train employees. Lack of written policies demonstrates that the organization is not adequately attempting to comply with its overall information protection duties.

DeVries Business Services is proud to announce that Patrick DeVries is one of a limited number of information security professionals nationwide to be authorized as a distributor for a new Information Destruction Policy Compliance Toolkit. The Toolkit is designed to help organizations develop the written information destruction procedures now required by law. The Toolkit is the first and only publication to specifically address information destruction policy development with a goal of making compliance with the laws easy and understandable.

Prior to authorizing an i-SIGMA Member representative to distribute the Toolkit, i-SIGMA requires that they become oriented in its use. Only individuals who have completed the orientation are permitted to distribute it.

The Toolkit contains sample policies and procedures for training, authorization and destruction for the full range of conventional media forms, including paper records, computers, magnetic tapes, optical and micro media. In addition, the Toolkit includes sample forms, templates and other resources useful in implementing the policy. And, while the Toolkit offers information destruction procedures for in-house information destruction, it also contains sample policies and procedures for selecting competent service providers.

For more information on the i-SIGMA Information Destruction Policy Compliance Toolkit, contact DeVries Business Services by telephone at (509) 838-1044 or by email at customerservice@devriesinc.com.