What is a Certificate of Destruction and Why Do I Need One?

Unusual Things

Every once in a while, you come across something that strikes you as really odd or strange. For instance, as you are walking down the street and you pass by the hearing aid store, a representative asks if you would like to take a free hearing test. By responding, you already indicate that you don’t really need one. Then as you walk by a bookstore, you notice a display of George Orwell’s book, 1984, is in plain view of surveillance cameras. That feels almost ironic. Then you remember that you just had your documents destroyed by a professional shredding company and in return, you received another document: a Certificate of Destruction. You think to yourself, this is odd. Why do I need this?

What Is a Certificate of Destruction?

A Certificate of Destruction is one of the most important parts in the process of having your confidential information securely destroyed. A Certificate of Destruction:

• Is a formal document that completes the chain of custody of your information.
• Is proof that you transferred the responsibility of protecting the private information on the documents from your company to the shredding company.
• Promises that the documents have been securely and properly destroyed in accordance with all pertinent state and federal privacy laws.
• Clarifies when, how, and by whom the sensitive information was transported and destroyed. It is like a historical document.

Why Do I Need One?

A Certificate of Destruction is not just another document to store in your filing cabinet. It provides information that is valuable to your company both now and possibly in the future. A Certificate of Destruction does the following:

• Protects you from liability if any information is lost or stolen.
• Ensures that your company remains compliant with privacy laws. Even if you are compliant with all privacy laws during the time sensitive documents are in your possession, you are still required to ensure their protection until they are completely destroyed and are impossible to reconstruct. A Certificate of Destruction proves the shredding company thoroughly and securely destroyed your documents.

It’s important to partner with a shredding company that automatically provides a Certificate of Destruction to your business when they have completed the destruction of your sensitive documents.

DeVries Business Services provides both on-site mobile shredding and off-site shredding for businesses and residents of Spokane, Eastern Washington, and Northern Idaho. We provide a Certificate of Destruction after every shredding job. As a NAID AAA Certified shredding company that upholds the highest standards of secure information destruction, you can be confident our shredding process complies with the law. For more information, give us a call at 706-724-7982 or complete the form on this page. We’re standing by to assist with all of your shredding needs.