Today’s businesses are tasked with the responsibility of protecting their customer’s confidential information. Hotels and resorts, just like every other industry, must safeguard their guests’ privacy. From reservation details to credit card information, hotels collect sensitive data that if not protected, could cause significant damage to the guest as well as to the hotel’s reputation and bottom line. One critical part of this is the proper management, retention and disposal of guest records. Here’s a guide to why document and record shredding is key for hotels and resorts to ensure guest confidentiality.

Why Shredding is Crucial to Safeguarding Guests

Reducing Data Breach Risks

Shredding documents containing guest information reduces the risk of data loss and identity theft. Unauthorized access to discarded hotel and resort records can lead to financial consequences for the guest and the hotel and cause damage to the hotel’s reputation.

Ensuring Compliance with Regulations

All hotels and resorts must comply with federal, state and local regulations when it comes to protecting their customer’s confidential information. Shredding documents is a crucial step to compliance, ensuring that personal information is permanently destroyed in adherence to privacy laws.

Earning and Maintaining Guest Trust

Hotels and resorts build their businesses on their reputation and repeat guests. To demonstrate commitment to protecting guests’ privacy, implement and follow a robust document collection, retention and disposal policy. Doing so builds trust and loyalty among customers and in the industry. Businesses that experience a breach often suffer with damage to their credibility and image.

Which Documents Should Be Shredded?

Reservation Documents

Reservation documents often contain a lot of personal information about the guest, including names, addresses, credit card numbers, email and other contact information. All of this information, or even just some of it, can be enough for an ID thief to gain access to your guest’s identity, bank accounts, credit card accounts and more.

Documents with Financial Information

Any hotel records that contain financial information must be shredded to protect patrons. This includes credit card receipts, billing statements and invoices.

Guest Registrations

Registration forms usually contain personally identifiable information (PII) including guest addresses, driver’s license numbers and passport numbers. This private information, if breached can lead to stolen identities and financial losses.

Personnel Records

Staff records often include private information that must be protected. This includes payroll information, performance reviews, employee addresses, social security numbers, contact information and other similar data. All of these records should be shredded after an employee has left the company and the amount of time to retain the records has lapsed.

Shredding Guest Records: Best Practices

Create and Implement a Document Retention Policy

All hotels and resorts must establish guidelines for the retention and disposal of guest records to ensure compliance with legal requirements. This policy should define which documents are kept and how long documents are retained.

Implement a Staff Training Program

In order to ensure your document retention and disposal protocols are effective, it’s important to implement a staff training program. Comprehensive training on data privacy and the proper handling of guest records should be performed on a regular and consistent basis and all new employees should be trained as part of their onboarding process.

Never Recycle Confidential Guests Documents

In addition to proper training, it’s important to understand the dangers of recycling documents and files that contain personal information. Although it may seem innocuous, recycling any paperwork with private data, including names and addresses can be stolen from recycling bins and used to compromise your guests’ identity.

Partner With A Trusted Shredding & Destruction Provider

A key aspect to protecting your guests’ privacy is to partner with a reputable shredding and destruction provider. The company you choose should provide secure shredding bins and locked containers to collect sensitive documents. They should also provide a regular shredding schedule that is designed for the amount of documents your hotel collects.

Businesses in the hospitality industry must protect their guests’ identities–not just because it is legally required, but because it is their responsibility. Hotels and resorts must ensure that all guest documents are handled securely and that they are shredded. Shredding policies and following data protection regulations are the top ways to safeguard guests.

All Points Mobile Shredding is a family-owned and operated company located in Stuart, Florida. We are proud to serve businesses and residents across the state and have earned the trust and respect of our customers since opening our doors in 1994. Give us a call today or complete the form on this page to learn more.