You have questions? RCI has answers!

Why do I need RCI?

Like every business, your business has confidential information that is nobody’s business but yours and your clients. This information runs the gamut from customer lists, price lists and sales statistics to bid drafts, general correspondence, and even memos.

Often, these documents could sacrifice the integrity of your company, should they fall into the wrong hands. While you want to say that you can trust everyone in your company to treat your records confidentially, it just takes one person who breaks that trust to cause problems. That’s why you need a record management partner like RCI.

See the legislation references in the following section for more information on how you are legally responsible for proper document destruction.

How long should records be kept before they are destroyed?
There is no single answer for this. There are many variables and factors that determine how long records should be stored. If a document can be considered even remotely valuable to your company, it should be retained. Most companies develop a paper and electronic document retention schedule that requires all documents to be held for a specific amount of time. After which, they can be destroyed. The new Federal Rule 26 requires that, in the event of a lawsuit, each party provide all relevant records to the opposing counsel within 85 days of the defendant’s initial response. This is where destroying records by a retention schedule can effectively (and legally) limit the amount of materials you must search through to comply with this law. RCI will be happy to help you define and manage your company’s retention schedule.

What should we do with our daily incidental business records?

Use RCI’s Security Container Service. It’s available for the protection of the information you generate each day. Your daily trash contains information that could be harmful if somebody dug through the dumpster. If your phone messages, memos, misprinted forms, bids and miscellaneous correspondence, etc. ends up in the wrong hands or in the hands of your competition, it’s an unfair advantage to them for which you can only blame yourself.  RCI’s Security Container Service makes sure that all extraneous daily information is securely collected and destroyed. We can install console containers conveniently throughout your office.

How important is it that document destruction is certified?
It’s extremely important. What’s more, those documents must be destroyed using a method that ensures the information is unreadable. Recording the date of destruction is vital as well, as it is a prudent and recommended legal precaution. RCI supplies a “certificate of destruction” via pdf or hard copy for every destruction project.

Is recycling an adequate alternative for document destruction?

While we admire your environmental concern, simply taking your documents to a recycler does NOT protect your sensitive information. The recycling plant has no obligation to keep your documented information secure. When you give documents to a recycler, you relinquish all decisions as to how it is handled. Many recycling employees have never had a background check, and recycling is usually performed in a totally unsecured area.

In addition, you have no idea how long the papers will sit in the storage house. It may not be shredded before it’s ultimately sold to an outside bidder. There’s no document of certified destruction, which can be critical in the event of an audit or litigation.

So, from a risk management perspective, what seems like a better decision: RCI’s document retention and destruction services or a recycling plant?