Buzz
Each month, you might come across various documents containing sensitive information such as bank statements, credit card bills, pay slips, or invoices. Alternatively, you might work for the government or companies dealing with confidential data. Simply throwing these documents in the trash is not safe enough to avoid prying eyes. To prevent your information from being misused or exploited for malicious purposes, you need to dispose of them thoroughly.
Steps
Shred the documents
Place the documents you want to dispose of into a large trash bin. You’ll need a container tall and wide enough to fit the documents and the necessary amount of water. Additionally, choose a sturdy bin that won’t break or deform when in contact with bleach and water. If you need around 22 liters of water for document disposal, pick a bin with a capacity of 30L or more. This ensures there’s enough room to stir the documents. A plastic trash bin is a good choice since it can withstand the effects of diluted bleach.
- Large plastic bins can be found in home goods stores or construction supply shops. In the U.S., they are also available in convenience stores like Kmart, Target, and Walmart, or you can order them online.
- Make sure to remove the documents from envelopes or any outer wrappings.
Pour 2L of bleach into the bin. You can buy bleach from various brands, typically with a concentration of 8.25%, at local stores. Bleach helps to break down paper. It is commonly used in paper recycling, and it can also bleach ink on paper. This way, your sensitive information will be thoroughly destroyed.
- Bleach is a hazardous chemical that can cause serious health issues if not handled properly. Avoid direct contact with skin or eyes, and do not ingest. Always dilute bleach with water. Mixing bleach with other chemicals, such as ammonia or toilet bowl cleaners, can create toxic fumes, which can be lethal.
- When using bleach, wear long sleeves, long pants, closed-toe shoes, and safety goggles.
- If bleach is accidentally ingested, drink a glass of water or a small cup of milk immediately and contact a medical center. In the U.S., you can call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 for assistance.
Pour 19L of water into the bin. While bleach is the main active chemical in the solution used for document disposal (and is stronger), water also plays an essential role. Once the paper is completely saturated with water, it can be turned into an unrecognizable pulp.
Submerge all the documents into the bleach solution. You need to fully submerge all the documents so they soak up the water completely and disintegrate. If there are more documents than the liquid in the bin can handle, you can either reduce the amount of paper or use a larger container. If you choose the second option, be sure to increase the amount of water and bleach accordingly.
- Don’t use bare hands to push the documents into the solution, as this can be harmful to your skin. Instead, you can use a paint mixer, broomstick, or long rubber gloves.
- For example, if you have a 30L plastic bin and 22L of bleach solution, but there’s too much paper to handle, you can buy a 90L bin, which will require 6L of bleach and 57L of water.
Soak the documents for about 24 hours. Documents soaked in bleach solution for around 24 hours will become mushy and easier to break down. If you're in a hurry and need to destroy the documents faster, consider using other methods from this guide.
Mix the documents using a paint mixer. After soaking for 24 hours, the documents will have softened and lost their color. You can use a paint mixer to stir the documents until they form a homogeneous pulp.
- Don’t forget to wear rubber gloves or nitrile gloves when checking and mixing the document pulp to avoid skin contact with the solution.
- You can also use a broomstick handle, wooden dowel, or any other long-handled tool. Any tool that can reach the bottom of the bin to stir and break the paper apart can be used.
- Carefully check the pulpy mixture for any larger clumps of paper. Tear apart any sections that still have readable information by hand and continue stirring.
Dry the paper pulp under the sun. The paper pulp might leak if placed directly into a bag, and waste collectors may not pick it up. Therefore, spread a large tarp, evenly distribute the wet pulp on top, and wait until it's completely dry before discarding it.
- Many people enjoy using dried paper pulp as mulch in their garden. However, if you plan to do this, avoid using bleach during the paper mashing process.
Dispose of the paper pulp. Place the dried paper pulp into a trash bag along with other waste. Even if someone rummages through your trash—like information thieves—they will find it difficult to retrieve anything from the mashed documents. The pulp can also be used for composting.
Burn sensitive documents
Prepare an outdoor fire pit. You can use a standard fire pit placed on the ground with a mesh cover on top to burn documents. The design of this fire pit allows for better airflow, ensuring that the documents burn completely. The mesh cover will also keep paper scraps from flying away during the burn.
- Note that in some residential areas or cities, burning trash could be illegal, or you may need permission from local authorities before doing so. Make sure to check the local 'burning regulations' to ensure compliance with the law.
- Using a dedicated metal incineration drum is also an excellent option. This type of drum is commonly used to burn ceremonial paper outdoors.
- You could also use a 55-gallon steel drum to burn documents. This drum is the most commonly used and suitable for containing paper scraps. However, burning paper in a drum is discouraged due to the toxic fumes it may produce. In some states, like Illinois, using these drums is even prohibited.
- It may be safer to burn small amounts of documents in a cast-iron bathtub. Ensure there are no other materials, such as plastic slip-resistant mats, in the bathtub. If the fire gets out of control, the proximity of water will make it easier to handle.
Start the fire. It is best to use kindling (small sticks that ignite easily) and paper to start the fire. You can also use the documents you wish to destroy as kindling. Once the kindling catches fire, gradually add larger logs until the fire grows large and steady.
- For safety, ensure that there are no bushes, paper, or other flammable materials near the fire. To prevent the fire from accidentally spreading, you should pour sand and place stones around the fire pit.
- If you want the fire to burn hotter, you can use kerosene. Be careful not to drop the kerosene bottle into the fire or pour too much, as this could cause an explosion or make the fire suddenly flare up, potentially causing injury. Always maintain a safe distance when adding kerosene to the fire to avoid burns to your face, chest, and arms.
Burn the documents that need to be destroyed. Do not throw all documents into the incinerator at once; doing so might cause small paper pieces with information to fall out. Use a metal clamp with a long handle to grab documents and burn them one at a time so they burn completely. After a while, you'll notice that there will be embers in the furnace, allowing you to add more documents and let them burn along with the kindling.
- Ensure proper ventilation in the furnace while burning to avoid smoke and to ensure the paper burns completely. The furnace lid will aid in ventilation while also limiting the amount of paper you can add at once.
- Keep an eye out to ensure that no pieces of paper fly out of the flames. Even a tiny scrap could contain valuable information someone else might want.
- Burn sensitive documents together with some discarded paper, so if any part of the document doesn't burn completely, the mixed discarded paper will make it difficult for anyone to retrieve valuable information.
Inspect the ash pile after burning. Once everything is burned and the fire has died down, carefully sift through the ash to check for any pieces of paper that may not have fully burned. The easiest to spot will be the white pieces. However, be cautious and check for pieces that have turned gray but still have readable text on them. These pieces should also be burned again to ensure they are completely destroyed.
Burn any remaining paper scraps. Gather all pieces of paper containing sensitive information and store them in a safe, secure place until you are ready to restart the fire. Wear protective gloves or use a long metal clamp to carefully place these paper pieces into the fire.
Clean up the ash. Wait until the fire has fully extinguished and the ash has cooled to a safe temperature, then use a shovel to collect the ash and place it in a sturdy bag. If you have a garden, you can spread the ash evenly over the garden.
- You can also take some of the ash and use it for composting (if no flammable fuel was used to start the fire).
- Spreading ash in the garden will help protect plants from slugs and snails.
- Pouring ash around the base of woody plants also provides many benefits to the plants.
Shred the documents.
Prepare a shredder for cross-cut shredding. It’s advisable to use a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder (avoid strip-cut models) as these machines slice paper into smaller pieces, making it nearly impossible for someone to reassemble the shredded paper and steal sensitive information. Choose a shredder that cuts paper into pieces that are no larger than 0.8 mm wide and about 1.3 cm in length.
- You can purchase shredders at office supply stores. They are classified into 6 security levels based on the size of the shredded paper. Level 1 is the widest cut, while level 6 provides the smallest pieces, typically used for disposing of highly classified government documents. Avoid using shredders with a security level of 4 or lower (0.16*16 mm) for sensitive documents.
- Most offices have a shredder. You could ask your boss if you can bring your personal documents to be shredded.
Shredding your documents. Once you have the right shredder, start feeding your documents into the machine one by one. If you have more documents than the shredder can handle, make sure to remove the shredded pieces before continuing with more.
- Avoid putting your hands directly near the shredder’s opening. Hold the document at one end while feeding it into the machine, keeping your hands at a safe distance. Once the shredder takes the paper, you can release your hold. Always prioritize safety for your hands.
- If using a traditional shredder (which only cuts paper into strips), it’s still possible for someone to reassemble the strips and extract the information. Hand-tearing documents isn’t secure either, especially with documents containing small details (for example, a U.S. social security number takes up just 2 cm of paper space).
Separate the shredded paper into different bags. After shredding the paper into tiny pieces, this step will enhance the security of your information. Take some pieces from each document type and place them into different bags. This way, no one can easily find the complete shredded information in a single bag. To obtain all the pieces, they would have to search through every bag.
Dispose of shredded documents on trash collection day. If the garbage collection at your home or office occurs on Tuesdays, don’t discard your shredded paper the day before. Minimize the time between when you take the paper out to throw away and when it gets collected. It’s best to keep it inside until the collection day, then immediately discard it just before the trash collectors arrive.
Shredding electronic documents
Delete Documents. Identify all files on your hard drive that contain sensitive documents. Right-click on them and move them to the trash bin, then empty the trash to permanently delete them. However, if you're not worried about others using advanced techniques to recover the data, this method will work. Keep in mind that files that have been 'deleted' can often be easily recovered using various data recovery software available in the market.
- Avoid using this method if there is a risk that others may try to recover your data.
- Do not use this method for sensitive information that could be used to harm you.
Overwrite the Hard Drive. All the data on your computer's hard drive is represented in binary code: 1s and 0s. Overwriting software – available online – will go through and replace all the information on your hard drive with a random string of 1s and 0s. If you choose this method, note that it is a semi-permanent solution, and you may not be able to recover the original data afterward.
- Most data-wiping programs that use overwriting will replace your data multiple times. The standard recommended by the U.S. government is to overwrite three times.
- Be sure to back up any important information to an external hard drive.
- There are various programs like Eraser that allow you to overwrite specific files manually.
Use a Hard Drive Degausser. Degaussing is a method in which a device creates a strong magnetic field to destroy data stored on technology devices that rely on magnetism, such as hard drives. Ideally, a degausser will disrupt the magnetic domains on the disk, rendering it unusable. The cost of a degausser can be several million VND, but you can rent one or hire professional IT services to use it for you.
- Although overwritten data can still be recovered, degaussing will permanently destroy the data, leaving no way to recover it. Be sure to back up any information you want to keep to an external drive or cloud storage.
- Do not use a degausser if you are wearing a pacemaker, as it may damage the device.
Physically Destroy the Hard Drive. This is the most thorough method of destruction. You can use a hammer, high temperatures, or a drill to destroy the hard drive. Regardless of the method, first remove the hard drive from the device. If using a hammer, hit the drive with force directly. If using a drill, drill several holes through the hard drive. If using heat (such as with a heat gun), make sure the drive is fully melted.
- When using a heat gun, remember to wear heat-resistant gloves and a face mask. It’s safest to work on a ground or sand surface to prevent fires or explosions.
- When using a hammer or drill, wear gloves and a face mask to avoid injury from flying debris.
- You can also use a gun to shoot holes through the drive. However, avoid using this method if you don't have legal permission to discharge a firearm.
Permanently Delete Emails. Select emails containing sensitive information and choose 'delete' or 'trash' depending on your email service. Many online email services, such as Gmail, keep deleted files for 30 days before they are permanently removed. After deleting an email, check the 'Deleted Messages' and 'Trash' folders to ensure there are no recoverable versions. If any are found, make sure to delete them as well.
Delete browsing history. This step can be useful if you want to prevent others from knowing which websites you've visited. Many browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, offer this feature. You can navigate through the menu options to view and delete any history entries you no longer wish to keep.
Advice
- If you frequently need to dispose of sensitive documents, it may be worth considering a paper shredder. Though a bit of an investment, it will save you significant time in the long run.
- While it will require some extra help, you can burn paper using a charcoal grill. The flames won’t go out if you ignite them every 10-15 minutes and continuously add paper. It will take about 15-25 minutes to burn a whole bag of paper. Use a metal stick to stir the paper so it burns completely. If the fire spreads, have a hose and a helper ready to put it out. After burning, ask someone to help spray water on the ashes until they turn to mush.
- Alternatively, you can store documents in a safe place and burn them once a year or look for public shredding machines, which are often free or charge a small fee for charity. These machines can usually shred CDs, tapes, and sometimes even hard drives.
Warning
- Always exercise caution when handling fire.
- Never burn plastic as it releases highly toxic fumes.
