Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do you shred?
- Thread starter emw
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
L
Lau
Guest
Thought I'd resurrect this with a warning that tearing this up isn't good enough - read this!
It's an entertaining read, so please do, but basically the guy applies for a credit card with a torn up and taped together application form, asks for it to be sent to a different address, and gives a cellphone number. A couple of weeks later a brand new $5000 credit card is his.....
It's an entertaining read, so please do, but basically the guy applies for a credit card with a torn up and taped together application form, asks for it to be sent to a different address, and gives a cellphone number. A couple of weeks later a brand new $5000 credit card is his.....
I'm not surprised at all!
I faithfully shread all CC offers, mortgage offers, etc. Anything where you can just easily fill out and send in with my name on it. We also save all of our receipts from shopping and every month shread them too. Every year we collect all of our bills (gas, electric, pay stubs) and shread them from the past year. We only keep them for a year for audit purposes.
Of course, the flip side of keeping this stuff is that were a thief to break into the house, they'd find a nice box in my office full of sensitive information. So, shread immediately and risk having no supporting paperwork for a billing error/audit or save and try to mitigate the risk?
Oh, and as for fire, I've burned enough stuff in my time to know that not everything burns completely. There's still plenty of information from scraps -- or entire pages that survive -- that it's not worth it, IMO. Invest $80 in a good quality shreader and be done with it.
I faithfully shread all CC offers, mortgage offers, etc. Anything where you can just easily fill out and send in with my name on it. We also save all of our receipts from shopping and every month shread them too. Every year we collect all of our bills (gas, electric, pay stubs) and shread them from the past year. We only keep them for a year for audit purposes.
Of course, the flip side of keeping this stuff is that were a thief to break into the house, they'd find a nice box in my office full of sensitive information. So, shread immediately and risk having no supporting paperwork for a billing error/audit or save and try to mitigate the risk?
Oh, and as for fire, I've burned enough stuff in my time to know that not everything burns completely. There's still plenty of information from scraps -- or entire pages that survive -- that it's not worth it, IMO. Invest $80 in a good quality shreader and be done with it.
Since most of those offers have telephone numbers you can call, putting the thing back together isn't even necessary.
Yes, but its very difficult to burn a pile of paper documents. They burn really well if you shred them first though - double the therapeutic value. And if you burn them on a log-burner you have the added pleasure of knowing that your heating bills have been reduced courtesy of the junk mailers.blackfox said:
We shred, credit card offers, bank statements, prescription statements, inserts from catalogues and then take the stuff and mix it in with the scoopable cat littler. We have two cats, so the rule as I see it is, one box per cat and then another. Scoop each day and throw it out. Who knows what is in the cat poop bag. I really don't think an identity thief is going to go through cat waste, litter and what not to find a pre-printed catalogue offer from LL Bean.
When I shred, I make sure any reference to myself is destroyed, including anything that looks like a serial number or bar code. For all you know, that's a reference to some database entry about you.
I always have gotten mail like that, addressed to people who used to live where I now do, so it pisses me off, thinking about the sensitive info about me being sent to old addresses I used to live at.
I always have gotten mail like that, addressed to people who used to live where I now do, so it pisses me off, thinking about the sensitive info about me being sent to old addresses I used to live at.
L
Lau
Guest
Then again, we get loads of mail for our landlady, which I always returned to sender. Then she screwed us over, so now I just chuck it all in the bin.
Some comments for those who already use a shredder:
- Shred everything, not just your sensitive documents. The more stuff in the basket the more someone would need to go through to gather worthwhile data.
- If shredding Legal sheets, rip them in half and put them through the shredder sideways.
- Shred at an angle when possible.
- Burn your shreddings, if you can.
- If not, separate into separate bags to dispose of.
Some comments about shredders:
- Strip shredders are basically a waste of time as the strips can easily be put back together. And if the strips are wide, many times you can read the info right off the strips.
- Cross cut/Confetti-cut shredders are not all the same. The smaller the pieces the better.
- If you want security, shredded pieces should be less than 1 inch long and 5/32 inch or less wide.
- Shred everything, not just your sensitive documents. The more stuff in the basket the more someone would need to go through to gather worthwhile data.
- If shredding Legal sheets, rip them in half and put them through the shredder sideways.
- Shred at an angle when possible.
- Burn your shreddings, if you can.
- If not, separate into separate bags to dispose of.
Some comments about shredders:
- Strip shredders are basically a waste of time as the strips can easily be put back together. And if the strips are wide, many times you can read the info right off the strips.
- Cross cut/Confetti-cut shredders are not all the same. The smaller the pieces the better.
- If you want security, shredded pieces should be less than 1 inch long and 5/32 inch or less wide.
sushi said:
Wow. I don't think I'll ever have anything important enough to go to these measures.
We shred, but don't go so far as burning the shredding's(?), and then tossing the ashes in the stream by the house, that then leads down to the ocean just a couple of blocks away, but maybe I should?
I have to say I have no regrets going from a strip-shredder that cost us all of $14 (at Staples) to the excellent cross-cut shredder we have now...that cost us $5 at a garage sale (we knew the seller).
Now, if only we could get those strip-shredded documents fed sideways into the cross-cut shredder...
Our shredder ranks right up there with our locking mailbox. Since we have a mailbox mounted out on the coast highway we felt it was almost more important. The best shredder doesn't help if the cunning tweaker is able to get to the mail first.
I have to say I have no regrets going from a strip-shredder that cost us all of $14 (at Staples) to the excellent cross-cut shredder we have now...that cost us $5 at a garage sale (we knew the seller).
Now, if only we could get those strip-shredded documents fed sideways into the cross-cut shredder...
Our shredder ranks right up there with our locking mailbox. Since we have a mailbox mounted out on the coast highway we felt it was almost more important. The best shredder doesn't help if the cunning tweaker is able to get to the mail first.
sushi said:
one of the joys of living in a rural setting is using a burn barrel to make all the paper products go bye-bye. it's fun, it keeps you warm, and saves all the snail spam from ending up in the landfill. and in the spring, the ash mixes in with the compost to start up the garden. beauty.
My recommendations are minimal for normal things like bank and credit card statements, tax returns, personal papers, etc.max_altitude said:
If you really want security, you need to get a shredder that can shred much smaller than 1 inch by 5/32nds.
The best that I personally owned was a shredder that cut into 2mm x 2mm pieces. Unfortunately, I wore it out. But at that size, you don't need to burn.
Now I use a cross cut shredder with 4mm by 24mm. Works pretty good but I still burn the shreddings. However, it cost about a 1/4 the price of the smaller cross cut (2x2 mm) one. It is much easier to clean the bin and cutters. And one major factor, is that there is much less paper dust generated.
i though this thread was about guitar-playing.. But as a lawyer, of course, the answer is yes! it's a must in some circumstances.
But as a lawyer, of course, the answer is yes! it's a must in some circumstances.
Dude, like...uh...totally, man! I totally shred it up all the time!
Statements, ATM & debit card receipts, and even sometimes credit card apps that get mailed to me when I'm feeling, like, totally rad!
I just have a weak 5 sheet crosscut shredder - It's such a poser, man. It won't even shred up discs or cards. I've got to cut up expired credit cards the old school way (with scissors)!
So yes, I shred.
Also, recently I moved out of my apartment that I lived in for almost 7 years. I used that time to purge my life of 'stuff' I don't really need before beginning the moving process. Talk about therapeutic - Reducing the amount of 'stuff' you own by ~30% feels amazing.
But back on topic, I realized during the moving process that I had a huge amount of documents/old checks/ statements/etc... that I didn't really need to save. So one night after work I had a massive shredapalooza where I managed to fill one & a half giant black 'lawn & leaf' sized garbage bags with shreddings.
Dude, it was crazy!
Statements, ATM & debit card receipts, and even sometimes credit card apps that get mailed to me when I'm feeling, like, totally rad!
I just have a weak 5 sheet crosscut shredder - It's such a poser, man. It won't even shred up discs or cards. I've got to cut up expired credit cards the old school way (with scissors)!
So yes, I shred.
Also, recently I moved out of my apartment that I lived in for almost 7 years. I used that time to purge my life of 'stuff' I don't really need before beginning the moving process. Talk about therapeutic - Reducing the amount of 'stuff' you own by ~30% feels amazing.
But back on topic, I realized during the moving process that I had a huge amount of documents/old checks/ statements/etc... that I didn't really need to save. So one night after work I had a massive shredapalooza where I managed to fill one & a half giant black 'lawn & leaf' sized garbage bags with shreddings.
Dude, it was crazy!