Oct 30 2008
Home Office: Shred personal information before taking it to the curb
Personal information is public domain once the garbage can is moved to the curb. It is imperative that your personal information never makes it that far before it is made unreadable.
Unless you want to sit in your home office for hours tearing addressed envelopes and paper with sensitive account numbers into tiny little pieces I suggest that you swing for a shredder. There are shredders and there are better shredders.
The least expensive shredders cut paper into long strips. It would be tedious but those strips could be reassembled. A better shredder crosscuts paper into smaller pieces so that no one would spend the time and effort to reassemble the pieces.
When shopping for a shredder you will find some that will shred just a few sheets at a time and others that will shred many more. The number of sheets is not the issue – it is the final size of the pieces of paper that gives you the value. A complete package would include the ability to shred credit cards and CD/DVDs.
If you use a shedder on a consistent basis you will kick the dumpster diving information thieves to the curb.
