Paper Shredders Can Prevent Identity Theft

Paper shredders can be invaluable, both for use at home and in an office setting. These days, cases of identity theft are continuing to rise, and the possession of paper shredders is vital.

Invaluable for Security

Whenever you dispose of any documents that contain any private information, such as your National Insurance Number, bank account number, and any other sort of financial-related details, you should make sure you shred them instead of simply disposing of them with your household and office rubbish.

In fact, if you a run a business, you have a legal obligation to shred, or otherwise destroy any confidential documents that you want to dispose of. This is because, depending on your line of business, of course, these documents may contain private information about your customers or employees.

Basically, if you would be reluctant to show a document to a stranger walking down the street, you need to destroy it!

Which Shredder?

Most people realise the importance of paper shredders in the current day and age but most are confused about the different types and which is most suited to their needs. The main difference between most paper shredders UK is the type of cut they give and the amount of security that the cut provides.

Many companies retailing cross cut paper shredders label their products with a level of security. For example, ‘Security Level 1’ shredders would offer a lower level of security whereas ‘Security Level 6’ shredders offer an extremely high level of security.

High-level security shredders

These top security level shredders are usually cross cut, rather than strip cut. Strip cut shredders work fast work fast and a good amount of paper but the thin strips they produce can be usually fairly easily assembled, giving a poor level of security.

Crosscut shredders

Crosscut shredders turn documents into confetti, making the sheets impossible to assemble and read. These cross cut shredders are required by law in a business setting, for use when you are shredding confidential documents that contain employee or customer information.

The size of shredder you buy will really depend on what you will be using for, and how intensively. Office shredders will usually be bigger than those for home use.