With data breaches on the news more often than anyone would expect, Lone Star Shredding and Document Storage is striving to keep information secure in South Texas through decades of experience, accredited practices and proven techniques.
“We shred and recycle approximately 12 to 15 tons of documents every day,” said Maritza Esqueda of Lone Star Shredding and Document Storage. “We’re not just a shredding company, we are a full-service records management company.” Lone Star Shredding and Document Storage acquired Esqueda’s business 14 years ago. Today, she serves as COO and managing shareholder. The company serves more than 3,000 clients — and stores over 300,000 boxes of documents — among its three locations in Mercedes, Rio Grande City, and Corpus Christi.
Gone are the days of tediously feeding stacks of paper through an in-office shredder prone to jams and frustration. Lone Star Shredding and Document Storage clients deposit their documents into secure collection containers to await destruction by one of Lone Star’s innovative shredding trucks. “The document shredding industry is highly regulated,” Esqueda said. “It’s become more and more regulated due to data privacy laws. Basically, everyone, including small businesses are obligated to protect client and employee information.”
At the crux of the issue is personal identifiable information. When a business has a document containing more than two pieces of that information — such as date of birth, the last four numbers of a credit card, an address, and other data — that document becomes personal identifiable information. By law, since it can reveal the identity of the person whose data it is, the document must be shredded. Failure to do so brings fines and penalties.
“Small businesses, a doctor’s offices, health-care providers, lawyers, accountants,” Esqueda said. “Pretty much everybody takes in personal identifiable information.”
Think receipts, job applications, sign-in sheets, and other everyday forms that businesses have on file. It’s not enough to toss them in the trash or recycling bin. They are required to be disposed of in a secure manner.
“Something as simple as an application that contains the applicant’s name and date of birth, if you throw that in the trash, just discard it and don’t destroy it it, then you can become susceptible to legal action by the attorney general — businesses can be fined up to $250,000 for data breaches and individual civil penalties per case,” Esqueda said. “So imagine that you lose one box with 50 people’s information in it. Fines like that can bankrupt a business and do all the time.”
So how do people keep the records that they need to securely maintain and potentially access? Lone Star’s Records Management programs can securely organize and store your documents — even retrieving and delivering them to you when and if necessary. Esqueda’s staff are experts on retention and privacy laws to ensure your business stays organized and compliant. From a periodic projects to routine needs, each business that works with Esqueda will have a tailored solution to their records management challenges.
“Document storage is great. It’s a fantastic organizational tool because we can have every single filefolder or box in our database, so if you need to request an individual file, you can simply go online to our online portal, or you can fax, call, email and just say, ‘hey, I need this particular file or box ,’” Esqueda said. “We’re able to access it by name or file number depending on how you have chosen to organize your records.”
It’s simple and hassle free, and in 24 hours, you’ll receive the digital image or the physical file itself, depending on your preference.
“People tend to think that document storage is more of a luxury service, but really, it’s not,” Esqueda said. For around the same cost of a storage unit — or less — clients can rest assured that their records will be protected.
Lone Star Shredding and Document Storage’s warehouse is climate controlled and under the surveillance of security cameras. All employees are also subject to background checks, making the entire records management experience extremely secure.
All of the team’s efforts are focused on the end goal of helping companies manage all of their data efficiently, securely, and comprehensively.
“Some businesses grow quickly while others just never made records management a priority” Esqueda said. “Before you know it, you’ve got hundreds of boxes with information that you don’t even know what’s in it. We are here to help”
Learn more about Lone Star Shredding and Document Service by visiting lonestarshredding.com or calling (800) 747-3318.
Lone Star Shredding & Document Storage
