Finding Work: The Value of an Employment Agency

If you maintain any form of confidential information, such as personally identifiable information or customer credit card information, you need to keep it safe. That includes when you put it in your storage unit. In general, a storage company will not be considered liable for damages related to confidential information breaches if that information was stored negligently or unnecessarily.

1. Always Shred Excess, Old, and Used Documents

You should only have multiple copies of a document if they are currently necessary. Any documents that you no longer need should always be shredded. This includes documents that have already been used for their intended purpose. As an example, credit card application forms should be shredded following the application, not stored indefinitely. Most businesses are allowed to shred their documentation seven to nine years after their date of origination.

2. Label and Separate Your Storage Items 

You need to be able to distinguish easily between standard business operations documents and confidential information. Your storage items should be marked with a thorough inventory of contents, and equally importantly, confidential information should never be mixed with other more mundane documents. Keeping your documents separate will make it much easier to track them. 

3. Limit Access to the Unit

Only those who have clearance to view confidential information should ever have access to the unit. To avoid confusion, the unit should not be accessible to multiple parties at the same time -- this could lead to a situation in which no one is certain who pulled specific files. There should also be a procedure in place for these individuals to check out files as needed so that there is a log maintained.

4. Increase Your Physical Security

There are certain things you can do to increase the physical security of your storage unit. You can have a small safe within the unit itself to protect particularly important information, such as legal documents, intellectual property, and digital files. You can purchase new, more effective locks, and utilize more than one lock at a time -- you can even have keys with separate individual people, so that they must both unlock the unit at once. Finally, you can get a unit that is protected by fencing, security cameras, and other lot security services.

If you are governed by specific regulatory compliance laws -- such as those that apply to financial, legal, and medical industries -- you should check with your industry association to find out more about any necessary storage procedures. In general, confidential information should only be stored as absolutely necessary for the performance of a service and as disclosed to the individual. If you're looking for a storage facility in your area, visit Capitol City Mini Storage.