Thinking About Hiring a Document Destruction Vendor? 6 Tips to Consider

By Ronna Goslin, Business Manager

Your clients trust you with their confidential information.  They expect you to safeguard it from bad actors and their competitors.  How do you safely protect that information when choosing a document destruction vendor to dispose of your client’s outdated confidential files?

Here are a few questions to ask before entrusting your client’s confidential information to a document destruction vendor based on Infoshred’s two decades in the secure document destruction and storage industry:

What is the process from when the documents leave your facility to when they are safely destroyed?

Choose a vendor that offers a strict chain of custody from the beginning to the end of destruction—placing confidential materials in a locked bin and into a locked and alarmed truck. Infoshred’s NAID-certified drivers pick up the containers and track them back to our secured facility.

All entrances to the Infoshred building are locked, and no one gets in or out without signing a logbook and verifying their identity. Fifty cameras monitor the document destruction process within the building. After the documents are shredded, they go into the final stage of destruction, where the shredded paper is re-pulped into recycled goods, such as tissue, paper towels, gameboard boxes and Kleenex boxes. 

Is the vendor NAID-certified?

Look for a vendor with NAID AAA certification through The International Secure Information Governance & Management Association^TM (i-SIGMA^®).  NAID certification assures you that the vendor adheres to strict safety standards regarding their facility, truck safety, employee background checks, ongoing training and plant security. NAID-certified vendors undergo yearly oversight visits, some scheduled and some unannounced.

Infoshred was one of the early adopters of the NAID certification program, which originated in 2000. We were among the first few companies to be recertified yearly since 2000.

You’ll want to confirm that the vendor you’re considering is NAID certified, not just a NAID member. Only NAID-certified members follow the organization’s standards and open up their operations for regular audits to confirm they are going above and beyond to safeguard their customers’ clients’ confidential information.

To maintain our NAID certification, Infoshred goes through annual audits, some of which are scheduled and some unscheduled.  During those audits, we open up our operation, providing the auditor with proof that we’re following NAID procedures. The auditor may follow one of our vehicles to check that the driver is following the policies and procedures that should be in place for handling confidential materials. They tour our facility. They check our camera system and confirm that we’re keeping security video for at least 90 days, as NAID requires.  They check the equipment to ensure it is shredding to the specifications required.  They make sure the trucks are appropriately registered, maintained, and insured.  They review our driver files to ensure we follow all protocols and safety requirements. We are proud that we pass our NAID audits with flying colors each year.

Businesses that value their relationships with customers should never deal with a shredding vendor that’s not NAID-certified.  It’s the best way to ensure they meet their clients’ data protection expectations.

How are the trucks that collect the confidential documents secured?

The vendor you select should be able to monitor activity inside and outside their trucks from leaving the plant until they deliver the documents to the facility.

Infoshred’s trucks are tracked with GPS devices so that we can follow their daily progress. We have also installed cameras inside and outside the trucks to monitor driver performance.

All our trucks automatically double lock when the drivers leave them, and they all have alarm systems after they are loaded. If one of the doors is accidentally left unlocked, an alarm will alert the driver before he or she drives away. Authorized personnel are the only people who can open one of those doors without an alarm sounding. 

How does the company pick and screen drivers?

Look for a company that monitors its drivers before and during their handling of confidential documents. Drivers should undergo background and safety checks before and during their service to the company.

Before hiring drivers and all our other employees, Infoshred conducts drug screenings and seven-year criminal and motor vehicle background checks. We also perform identity checks on federal and state levels, as well as criminal background and prior employment checks.

To maintain our NAID certification, Infoshred runs criminal background checks on a third of our drivers and employees yearly. All Infoshred drivers have their motor vehicle reports pulled quarterly, and they are randomly drug-screened throughout the year. 

How is the building secured?

The vendor you choose should be able to demonstrate a high level of security in their facility.

At Infoshred, there are multiple levels of security in the building.  Our plant is monitored by a security system equipped with motion and microphones.  A razor wire chain link fence protects the offloading and loading areas of the building. Every entry point to the building has access control.

Does the vendor offer you complete access to the document destruction process?

Pick a vendor that welcomes you into their facility at any time.  They should be comfortable allowing you to see how they do things firsthand.  Any provider should welcome you into their facility to witness their process and how they handle the material.

Some Infoshred clients do annual security checks with us.  They tour our facility to witness our processes and learn about updates we’ve made to our security measures and equipment.  We’re continually updating our security systems.

That’s really important.  We’re being trusted to bring in material and deal with it appropriately. If that’s what’s happening, there’s every reason for us to open our doors and show your process to our customers or those looking for a vendor.

Infoshred considers itself a security company first and foremost. Our customers engage us to provide that service. They trust us to keep their confidential information out of the hands of the wrong people. When somebody hires us, they are hiring our ability to ensure a chain of custody for their confidential information. We take that responsibility very seriously.

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Are you interested in touring our NAID-certified facility to see our security measures in person and meet the people who will safeguard your clients’ information? Contact Jenna Glidden, 860-627-5800 x 100, customerservice@infoshred.com, today for a private tour and information session.