How to Keep Your Information Safe When Traveling

When you’re packing for a vacation, your list probably goes something like this: pants, t-shirts, toothpaste, and several kinds of shoes. You also probably pack your passport, credit cards, and other important documents. Travelers are especially at risk of identity theft, so use these tips to keep your information safe when traveling.

Unload Documents Before You Travel

If you carry a few important documents in your everyday purse or wallet — social security cards, extra credit cards, medical documents, etc. — take them out before you travel. The less information you have on yourself, the better.

Guard Your Documents

Once you arrive at your destination, make sure to store your personal information in a safe place. Simply leaving it in a drawer or an unlocked suitcase allows it to be easily stolen. Invest in a small travel safe, money belt, or an RFID-blocking wallet so your things are more secure.

Watch Your Internet Connection

If you’re using the public internet, check to see if your connection is shared or unsecured. This allows for outside networks to steal your information, such as email addresses or passwords, while you’re online. To keep your information safe when traveling, it’s best to stay offline.

Only Use Bank ATMs

It’s becoming more and more common for people to install card readers in ATMs as a way to steal travelers’ identities. ATMs in hotels, bars, and shops are most susceptible to this, so only take out money from bank ATMs since they are less likely to be fitted with readers.

Protect Your Children’s Information

Many parents carry their children’s birth certificates or social security cards as identification pieces when traveling. Those are what identity thieves target since no one checks a child’s credit report for fraudulent items. The best way to prevent this — skip the birth certificates, and get your children passports.

While it’s important to keep your information safe while traveling, it’s also important to keep it safe at home. Complete Shredding Solutions offers secure drop-off shredding services, so you can rest easy knowing you’re protecting your information from being stolen. For more information or to get a free quote, call us at 516-442-1624.

How to Make Your Small Business Green

In today’s pro-sustainability world, it’s a wonder that more companies aren’t jumping on the “green” bandwagon. Many customers are looking to do business with companies that have a genuine interest in protecting our environment through how they conduct their business. If you want to make your small business green, here are a few changes you can try.

How to Make Your Small Business Green

Eliminate Plastic Where You Can

If you stock your break room with plastic cups and plates or use them to serve customers, make the switch to biodegradable paper items instead. You can even go a step further and use products that are already made of recycled materials.

Use Green Cleaning Products

Typical store-bought cleaning products contain all sorts of chemicals that are harmful to the air and the people breathing them in. Green cleaning products are devoid of those harsh chemicals, making the air in and around your business much safer and healthier.

Switch to LED Lights

Traditional light bulbs use a lot more energy than LED bulbs and don’t last nearly as long. Using LED lights will keep more bulbs out of landfills and cut down on energy usage — which saves you money.

Use Energy Star Appliances

Do you have a fridge and microwave for your employees to use throughout the day? To make your small business green, make sure those appliances are Energy Star, so you can cut down on your utility usage.

Go Digital

When it comes to paperwork or receipts, skip the paper, and use digital copies. Not only does this cut down on paper waste, but it lowers the amount of money you’ll spend on paper.

When it comes to disposing of documents you have within your small business, contact Complete Shredding Solutions. We recycle all the paper we securely shred, reducing our carbon footprint on the environment and reducing the number of trees being cut down to make more paper. For more information or to schedule a paper shredding service, call us at 516-442-1624.

Am I Violating HIPAA?

What would you do if someone sued your medical practice due to a HIPAA violation? Would you be able to handle the financial burden or the damage to your office’s reputation? While you may think you’re taking the necessary actions needed to protect your patients’ information, there might be a few unthought of ways you’re violating HIPAA.

Ways You Could Be Violating HIPAA

• Mishandling Medical Records: Often, doctors, nurses, or the like leave medical charts in an exam room that other patients can see, which can then lead to a mishandling of medical records. Make sure to always keep printed patient information locked away.
• Employees Disclosing Patient Information: Sometimes employees will gossip about a patient with coworkers, friends, or family, putting your practice at risk of violating HIPAA. Make sure your employees know to not discuss patient information in public, or even at all outside your office.
• Lost or Stolen Devices: You can face major HIPAA fines if patient information is leaked through stolen computers, laptops, and smartphones. To protect yourself and your patients, ensure all technology is safeguarded with passwords, firewalls, and encrypted codes.
• Employees Illegally Accessing Files: A common HIPAA violation is employees accessing patient information when they are not authorized to do so. Whatever the reason, this is highly illegal and can result in major fines for your practices.
• Lack of Authorization: In order to share patient information with third parties, you need written consent from that person. Unless the information is used for treatment, payment, or health care options, make sure you or your employees always getting proper authorization before releasing a patient’s medical information.
• Improper Disposal of Documents: If patients leave your office, either give them all the documentation you have on them or securely shred their medical records with a reputable shredding service. Holding onto unnecessary documentation runs the risk of that information falling into the wrong hands and a lawsuit falling into yours.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we are AAA-certified and a member of the National Association for Information Destruction, meaning we are experts at information elimination and keeping you compliant with all state and federal laws. For more information or to schedule a shredding service, please call us at 516-442-1624.

Destroy Your Information Before Identity Theft

Identity theft is scary enough when it happens to you personally, but it’s even scarier when it happens to your entire business. There are probably going to be a million things running through your mind, but it’s important to take a deep breath and take the necessary actions in protecting yourself and your clients if your business suffers identity theft. We can help you understand the best way to destroy your information.

What To Do If Your Business Suffers Identity Theft

Protect Your Liquid Accounts

Call your bank immediately to protect any debit cards or other cash accounts linked to your business. Businesses usually have a smaller window of time to report fraud in and hold more liability, so it’s imperative to notify your bank of any fraudulent activity as soon as you discover it.

Call Your Credit Card Companies

If you suspect there has been fraudulent activity on your credit cards, call your credit company immediately so they can cancel the cards, close your accounts, and review recent charges. If you know for sure that there were unauthorized charges on your card, work with your company to dispute them.

Report the Crime

Report the fraud crime to your local police station and get a case number. Make sure to hold onto that number in case your financial companies ask for it. If there are cases of misuse of your business registration, report them to your Secretary of State Corporation or Business Services.

Tell Your Suppliers and Creditors

Inform the suppliers and creditors your business works with, as well as any companies that were contacted falsely under your name, of any and all fraudulent activities that may involve them. This should be done in writing and followed-up with phone calls.

Collect Copies

As you go through these motions,  make sure to keep copies of all communication and reports done with your financial institutions, suppliers, etc. Send these documents to the law enforcement officers handling your case, making the records as thorough as possible.

If your business suffers identity theft, you’ll want to prevent it from ever happening again. At Complete Shredding Services, we securely destroy your information to keep it out of the wrong hands. Whether you prefer drop-off shredding, mobile shredding, or recurring shredding, we have a service to fit your needs.

How Drop-Off Shredding Works

When you use a professional shredding service, you have a lot of ways to safely dispose of your documents — one of the most popular methods being drop-off shredding. This service provides you with the most hands-on way of getting rid of your personal information. If you’re thinking about going this route, here’s how drop-off shredding works.

How Drop-Off Shredding Works

Gather all your information.

Go through your home or office, and gather up all of the documents you want to shred — old financial documents, copies of settled medical bills, etc. Then it’s time to hop in your car and start driving.

Head to our secure facility.

Come to one of our facilities in Oceanside on Long Island or in Midtown Manhattan. And don’t worry about how much you’re bringing — we accept all amounts of documents regardless of size.

Watch your papers get shredded.

Your documents will go straight from their boxes to our shredders. There’s no need to remove any paper clips, staples, or binder clips — our industrial shredders can handle that all. You’ll watch as your papers get shredded beyond reconstructive recognition. (Bonus: It’s really satisfying to watch all that paper turn to little bits of nothing.)

Get a certificate of destruction.

After all your documents are shredded, we provide you with a certificate of destruction as proof of your compliance with all privacy legislation. Then you go on with your day knowing your information is safe.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we offer drop-off shredding services at affordable prices so you can protect your information without breaking the bank. For more information or to schedule a shredding service, call us at 516-442-1624.

Does Old Paper Attract Bugs?

You’ve heard plenty of stories about how leaving old paperwork lying around can put you at risk for identity theft. But have you ever thought about how it could put you at risk for pests? There’s more than thieves lying in wait to take advantage of your old papers — there’s a few creepy crawlies too. 

Do Old Papers Attract Bugs?

In short, yes. Old paper and cardboard provide bugs and other pests with protection from harsh weather and predators, so they take advantage of those hiding spots. When you leave boxes or stacks of paper lying around your garage, basement, or attic, you’re basically opening up a bug motel. There are a few pests that like these shelters more than others, so watch out for them!

• Silverfish: These are small, wingless bugs that you can’t see with your naked eye. They like hanging out in moist, humid areas — i.e. your attic or basement — and eating paper with ink, as well as wood, wallpaper, and photos.
• Cockroaches: These pesky crawlers prefer to live in dark, humid places, such as damp corners and leaking pipes. They’re also the most common bug to be found eating paper in your home.
• Termites: You could go years without knowing you have termites in your home. While they’re better known for eating wood, they’re attracted to all forms of cellulose, including paper. They’ll happily chew through book bindings and paper pages, amongst other paper products.
• Book Lice: These tiny pests feed on the microscopic bits of mold on cardboard, books, and old paper, inevitably causing permanent damage to the documents.

When it comes to hanging onto old paperwork, you’re not only risking identity theft but also a pest infestation. Get rid of old documents with Complete Shredding Solutions. We safely destroy any and all old paperwork so you and your home are kept safe. For more information on paper shredding near me or to get a free quote, call us at 516-442-1624.

Wrong Ways You’re Getting Rid of Your Hard Drive

We’re sure you’ve seen videos online of people going wild trying to destroy their computers and hard drives. While those methods may be great for video views, they’re really bad for both your physical and personal identity safety. These wrong ways you’re getting rid of your hard drive can have negative effects on you and those around you.

Wrong Ways You’re Getting Rid of Your Hard Drive

• Bashing It with A Hammer: All this will do is cause tiny pieces of glass, plastic, and metal to fly all over the place, and that doesn’t even guarantee that your information is completely destroyed.
• Burning It in the Fireplace: Plastic and fire don’t mix. You’d need a seriously high temperature to melt the hard drive, and even then, the dangerous fumes from the plastic would circulate your home for your family to breathe in. (Not good!)
• Shooting It: First off, that is not how you practice proper gun safety. Secondly, a few bullet holes in your hard drive won’t make your information impossible to steal.
• Throw It Into a Lake: We’re pretty sure a hard drive isn’t the best type of bait to attract fish. But seriously, a little water logging still won’t ensure your information is totally gone.
• Dip It In Acid: We don’t know you would have acid lying around, but one wrong move and forget getting rid of your hard drive — you’ll end up getting rid of your skin.
• Recycling It: There’s no way of knowing that someone won’t just reach into your bin and steal your hard drive right out.
• Wiping It with a Program: Sorry — no program wipes your hard drive completely.

When it comes to getting rid of your hard drive, trust the experts at Complete Shredding Solutions. We specialize in information and media destruction and can securely destroy your hard drive beyond reconstruction. For more information or to schedule a service, call us at 516-442-1624.

Is Your Business Affected By Privacy Laws?

As a small-to-medium-sized business owner, you know how hard it can sometimes be keeping up with all the rules and regulations that come with running a business. With so much to remember, it may slip your mind as to what laws and regulations your company must comply with — including if your business is affected by privacy laws.

Is Your Business Affected By Privacy Laws?

There are several federal privacy laws your business may have to comply with including (but not limited to):

The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act)

This prohibits the unfair practices of offline or online privacy and data security policies and includes sharing personal data without a user’s authorized consent.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

This applies to the online collection and sharing of children’s personal data.

The Financial Service Modernization Act

This regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of financial information, mainly dealing with the sharing of nonpublic personal information, and includes several rules about the disposal of financial information as well.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Probably the most well-known, this regulates medical information in terms of how it is collected, how and with whom it is shared, and how it is disposed of.

Who Is Affected By These Privacy Laws?

To name just a few:

• Medical offices
• Legal offices
• Financial offices
• Any business that deals with billing or credit

 

 

Failing to follow these privacy laws can result in damaged reputations, lawsuits, and even the loss of your business, so it’s important to keep that information safe and dispose of it when you no longer need it.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we are experts in information destruction. Whether you need recurring shredding services, drop-off shredding, or media destruction, we are your go-to provider on Long Island and in NYC. For more information or to schedule a service, call us at 516-442-1624.

 

Private Information At Risk

As a professional, we’re sure you’ve heard advice on how little habits can make a big difference. These might include how writing your to-do list the night before helps you jump right into it the next morning or how smiling on the phone automatically makes you sound happier. While those habits can have positive effects, some can have negative effects. Some work habits put your information at risk.

Work Habits That Put Your Private Information At Risk

Working in Public

If you’re not taking the proper precautions, thieves can easily swipe a look at your screen when you’re not looking. Beyond that, if you’re using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, hackers will have no problem stealing your private information. Make sure to use screen blockers, protected passwords, and secure networks when you’re working outside the office.

Leaving Printed Materials Unattended

How often have you printed something and let it sit in the printer for a while before you went to go get it? Anyone can easily take those papers and use the private information to steal other files. When you print something, go get it right away.

Keeping Old Electronics

Your office may have a storage unit filled with old computers that they’re holding onto, all the information is still on the hard drives and can be stolen at any moment. Employ a media shredding services company to put a stop to that risk.

Leaving Your Desk Cluttered

If you’re not locking away information at the end of the day, it’s an open invitation to anyone who would like to steal the information that’s on it. Clean off your desk at the end of each day instead.

Keeping your information safe is easy when you have help.  At Complete Shredding Solutions, we are experts in information destruction. Whether you need recurring shredding services, drop-off shredding, or media destruction, we are your go-to provider on Long Island and in NYC. For more information or to schedule a service, call us at 516-442-1624.

 

Our Best Tips to Declutter Your Desk

Don’t you love walking into your office in the morning and spending twenty minutes cleaning off your desk before you can actually start working? Yeah, we didn’t think so. With a little help and hard work, you can walk into a clean workspace and get right to the daily grind. These are our best tips to declutter your desk.

Get Rid of the Knick-Knacks

We know you like having a personalized desk, but you don’t need an entire sports memorabilia collection adorning your workspace. Limit the decorations to two to three items.

Figure Out What’s Necessary

Do you really need a stack of file folders on your desk at all times or two different pen holders? If certain items aren’t must-haves for your desk, store them somewhere else or bring them home.

Sort Drawers by Importance

Store items you need often in the drawers closest to you and items you don’t use as much in farther drawers. This way your not leaving things on your desk and can simply put them into the appropriate drawer nearby.

Have In and Out Folders

Forget leaving papers lying around willy-nilly. Have a basket for papers you need to get to (In) and a basket for papers you’ve dealt with and need to store away (Out).

Stop Using Sticky Notes

Sure they’re great for easy reminders, but sticky notes add so much clutter to your desk, even if it’s just visually. If you absolutely need to use them, throw them out immediately after completing the task they’re about.

Digitize Files When Possible

If you don’t have to take up space with physical papers, digitize them, and store the files on an secure, external hard drive.

Get Rid of Trash Right Away

Don’t leave empty coffee cups or snack wrappers on your desk — it just adds to the clutter. Have a garbage can near you, and toss any trash into it as soon as you can.

Shred What You Don’t Need

There’s no need to hold onto files you don’t need — plus it’s a security risk. Shred any files you can get rid off.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we’re experts at document destruction and helping you declutter your home or work space. For more information or to schedule a paper shredding near me, call us at 516-442-1642.