Cross Cut Paper Shredder

Almost everyone today knows that a paper shredder is a necessary machine to have in your house.

Almost everyone today knows that a paper shredder is a necessary machine to have in your house. Every day we're receiving and discarding papers with important information.

You get bank account and credit card statements, offers for credit cards, insurance forms, and many other things. You know that if you just throw these away or even rip them in thirds some unscrupulous person can come along who wants to investigate your trash and then your information is out there in the world for just anyone to look at. It's even possible that they'll steal your identity.

Now you may think it's just fine to go to your local office supply store and pick up any kind of shredder they're selling. But have you given any thought to whether you're purchasing a strip shredder or a cross cut shredder?

My guess is that many people don't even recognize that there are two kinds, much less know which is better for them. A strip shredder tears your papers into strips, much as a pasta maker takes dough and turns it into thin spaghetti.

These strands certainly look as if no one could ever put them back together. You do this shredding, put your trash out on the street and assume that no one could ever see your information. But that's not true.

There is software sold today that can help thieves retrieve your strips of paper and piece them together. This is hard to believe but it is possible. Cross cut shredders, on the other hand, take that extra step of cutting your paper one way and then the other. 

There's no way in this case that someone could get into your garbage and find out things about you or steal your identity. So it's worthwhile to look for one of these types of shredders when you shop. Personally you know you need a good paper shredder.

You don't want your account numbers and other information to get into the wrong hands. Identity theft affects so many individuals each year and causes them exhorbitant amounts of time and money to rectify.

But if you're doing business, you should know that there are legalities involved. Choice is taken away, because you're responsible for certain things. FACTA says that you can't just take an employee's records and dump them in the trash.

You may be cleaning out files because someone has left the company and figure that no one will be seeing them ever again. But it's not enough to just throw them out or rip them up.

There are facts about his or her earnings, insurance, performance, health, and other things that you are not allowed to put out their for third parties to see.

If you do that, even by neglect, you could be prosecuted, and that's as true for small businesses as it is for large ones. Even when money and accounts are not at stake, whether in your personal or professional life, remember that there are things about yourself that you don't want others to know.

Your diagnoses of mental and physical illness are no one else's business but yours, and you'd be shame-faced if anyone outside your immediate circle got hold of your health records.

Maybe you're communicating with people you don't want to broadcast about for various reasons. It's hard to realize how much of your life you want to stay private until a slip is made and you lose that privacy.

So don't rely on just ripping things up and throwing them away. And don't rely on just a strip paper shredder. Shop around and find a good cross cut paper shredder.

When you file your papers into this machine after sorting your mail in the evening, you'll sleep tight that night because you'll know that your information cannot get into anybody's hands.