What is a Certificate of Destruction and Why Do I Need One?

True story: Throughout elementary and high school, I was never awarded anything at graduation. I became satisfied with the fact I was just an average student, and it wasn’t going to happen. Fast forward to college graduation. After receiving my diploma, I sat in a daze waiting for the awards to be given out to those deserving of them.

During one of the award presentations, I thought I heard my name announced, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to do. Should I get up and risk making a mistake, or stay seated and make things awkward? I had a split second to choose. I stood up nervously and started to move. I thought I could always redirect towards the washroom if I had misheard. Fortunately, I rightfully received my unexpected award. I was thrilled!

You Earned It

A Certificate of Destruction is a formal written document, presented to a business by a shredding and destruction company, indicating that destruction of all your documents have been securely and properly destroyed. This certificate entitles you to all the rights and privileges associated with it. Once your documents have fulfilled this action, your business has earned it.

What is It?

A Certificate of Destruction is your legal proof that your sensitive information has completed its journey and it now destroyed, fulfilling the requirements of state and federal privacy laws.

For the certificate to be considered official, it must contain specific details, including:

• The name and address of the shredding company
• The date and time of the destruction service
• The method used to destroy the information
• A list of the items that were destroyed
• An official statement confirming that the items were destroyed
• Authorized signature(s) to complete certificate

This valuable document protects you, your business, your staff, and your customers by transferring the legal responsibility for secure destruction to the shredding company.

A reputable shredding company will be able to provide you with a Certificate of Destruction. After all, you earned it by choosing to have your information shredded in compliance with the law, and you need it to prove a secure chain of custody in case of an audit.

How Will I Use It?

Because your business generates and maintains information about staff, clients, and your business, the law requires that information to be destroyed at the end of its retention period. The information you want to be sure is destroyed in a secure and compliant shredding process includes:

• Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
• Protected Health Information (PHI)
• Corporate trade secrets
• Financial information of individuals and business
• Information found on receipts, bills of lading, shipping labels, boarding passes, travel statements, passport information, and more

Records Management Center will automatically provide your business with a Certificate of Destruction upon completion of every document shredding job. We serve businesses in Augusta, Evans, Thomson, and Martinez, GA, Aiken, SC, and the Central Savannah River Areas. For more information or for a no-hassle shredding quote, simply call us at 706-724-7982 or complete the form on this page.