What You Need to Know about Keeping Confidential Documents Safe during Recovery

While almost any contractor with the appropriate document recovery solutions could dry and restore your damaged documents, you should not use just any provider. One of the greatest considerations when choosing a document restoration firm is document security. If your damaged documents contain sensitive information, the contractor you choose should hold itself to the highest security standards. By knowing what measures a restoration company should employ, you will be equipped to select one that protects your best interests.

Communicating the Confidential Nature of Your Documents

When vetting a document recovery company, it is a good idea to be forthright about your document security needs. In general, contractors classify documents as:

• Restricted: Documents with the most sensitive data that authorized employees access on a need-to-know basis; security losses would pose a great risk to the organization
• Confidential: Documents with moderately sensitive information that would pose a risk to an organization if compromised
• Public: Documents with non-sensitive information that pose little to no risk if compromised

When communicating with a contractor about the sensitive nature of your documents, you can give a clue regarding the type of information on them without compromising their security by simply stating that the information on them is restricted or confidential. A reputable contractor knows what these terms mean and will not press you to divulge privileged details.   

Security Measures to Seek in Document Recovery Solutions

A document restoration company should have established policies and best practices that it follows to protect its clients and their stakeholders. Security measures should include:

Comprehensive employee screens

Employee background screens do more than look at an individual’s past to provide you with clues regarding their future trustworthiness. They also tell you if laws and regulations make an individual ineligible to handle secure documents. For example, organizations in the health care sector that handle sensitive patient information cannot hire employees with specific criminal histories. Similarly, they cannot hire contractors with employees who do not meet the same criminal history standards. To comply with your industry’s privacy- and security-related regulations, the document restoration contractor’s hiring practices should align with your organization’s practices.

Non-Disclosure Agreements

The best document restoration contractors make all employees with access to client files sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements.

Ongoing Employee Training

Employee education should not be a one-time event. Workers should receive detailed on-the-job training about properly handling sensitive documents, as well as ongoing training to reinforce the information learned and teach new privacy regulations.

Secure Document Restoration Protocols

Trusted document recovery contractors willingly share the security protocols that they have in place for their restoration services. In general, these protocols include:

• Using armored vehicles with trained security personnel
• Transporting documents to a secure facility without layovers or overnight stays
• Escorting visitors in the restoration facility
• Using security cameras throughout the interior and exterior of the facility
• Only allowing specific employees in secure areas of the facility
• Not using vehicles and drying chambers for more than one client at a time
• Establishing a clear chain of command regarding the handling of all documents
• Measures that prevent the need to remove wet documents that don’t need cleaning from storage boxes during the restoration process

Accommodating On-Site Document Recovery Needs

In some instances, the information on documents makes them too sensitive to leave their storage site. When restricted or classified documents must remain on-site, the document recovery solutions that a firm offers should include on-site restoration services. The best document restoration companies have mobile solutions that will come to you if your documents can’t leave the building.

A reputable restoration contractor has measures in place that protect the integrity of damaged documents and the information that they contain. As an international leader in document restoration, Polygon is a U.S. General Services Administration contract holder that provides secure document restoration services for public and private organizations, including projects that require security clearances. Going beyond expectation in the name of document security is our norm. To learn more about what we do to safeguard your most sensitive information, speak to a specialist at Polygon today. We’ll gladly guide you through our process and provide a complimentary consultation.