Top Documents Education Institutions Should Be Shredding

Educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities receive and store numerous documents that contain confidential information. Because of this, just like any other business or organization, they must implement a records retention and disposal program to ensure compliance with privacy regulations. Here’s a quick guide to which documents educational institutions should be shredding:

Student Records

One of the most important documents that should be protected by your institution’s data management, retention and disposal program is student records. These records contain personal information about each student, including social security number, address, birthdate, student’s academic performance data and other information. It’s crucial that you follow your state and any federal guidelines when it comes to retention and disposal so you protect the student’s privacy and remain compliant. In most cases, the recommendation is that these types of records can be destroyed 4 years after a student is no longer attending the educational institution. You should make sure you understand and follow the rules of your state.

Staff Data

Just like student records, staff data includes personal and confidential information about your personnel. In addition to their social security number, date of birth, address, phone number and email, these types of files usually include hire date, performance reviews and other pertinent information about the team member. This information must be protected against theft and therefore must be properly managed and disposed of once the employee no longer works for you.

Hard Drives & Devices

Once a hard drive or device becomes no longer useful, outdated or your institution is ready to upgrade, it’s important to permanently destroy it so it cannot be breached. Although doing a reset or deleting old files on these drives may seem safe, the reality is that they still can contain small bits of information that are useful to a hacker or ID thief. It’s imperative to have these items professionally shredded to protect against theft and losses.

To protect your educational institution from violations, fines and damage to your reputation, you must ensure that you are following the guidelines and regulations when it comes to privacy and record destruction. All Points Mobile Shredding can help you by providing regular shredding and destruction of any of the materials listed above. We are a family-owned and operated company that serves South Florida companies and residents from Broward County all the way to Okeechobee County. Give us a call today or fill out this form to learn how we can serve you.