Your employees, clients, and partners all expect you to keep their personal data safe. To prevent identity theft and other data breaches, you must secure all sensitive business documents, regardless of whether they are in physical or digital form. At WiZiX Technology Group, we help business owners protect data by offering secure document management and commercial printing solutions.
How to Secure Sensitive Business Documents
1: Password Protect Digital Files
Password protection keeps data safe even if someone accidentally shares a file with the wrong person. It allows you to restrict access to sensitive digital documents to ensure that only authorized users can see them. You can password-protect files in an electronic document management system like DocuWare, or with a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Documents.
It’s also a good idea to password protect your printers and copiers to further protect your digital data. Make sure to enable your machines to require authorization for every use and remind your employees that they must never share their login credentials with anyone, even with other employees.
2: Secure Paper Document Storage
It’s just as important to restrict access to your paper document storage as it is for digital files. Although many businesses are going paperless, it’s impossible to eliminate all hard copies. Follow these steps to secure confidential documents in the workplace:
- Only store physical documents when necessary
- Keep the area where you store your documents locked
- Train your employees to lock away sensitive documents after use
- Monitor access to your paper document storage area with security cameras
3: Back Up Your Information
In the event of a theft, flood, fire, or other disasters, having backed-up copies will ensure that you still have access to any sensitive information that was lost. Make digital copies of all the paper documents you have in storage, and be sure to protect their digital versions as well. One advantage of an electronic document management system is that it can create backups of your digital files for better protection.
4: Dispose of Documents Properly
Failing to correctly dispose of sensitive documents can be a violation of privacy laws in California and other states. And, under the California Consumer Privacy Act, your customers can request the deletion of their personal information from your business.
To protect your business as well as the sensitive data it collects, it is essential that your employees understand how to dispose of sensitive business documents properly. Make sure to shred paper documents and permanently delete digital files that are no longer needed.
5: Develop Strong Policies
The best way to ensure your employees understand the right protocols when it comes to securing and disposing of sensitive information is to implement better office policies. For example, enforcing a clean desk policy will prevent employees from forgetting to lock up or dispose of sensitive documents at the end of the day. Once you have established new policies surrounding confidential data, go over them with your employees as soon as possible.
Protect Sensitive Data with a Document Management System
Wondering how to secure sensitive documents in the workplace? You can get started by reducing your paper use and switching to an electronic document management system. WiZiX Technology Group in Fresno and Northern California is an authorized reseller of DocuWare. We proudly offer DocuWare because it efficiently improves document workflow while keeping data safe. Call us at 866-846-1411 today to schedule a demo.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (3/14/2022). Photo by Geisteskerker on Pixabay