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ShredFest 2018 is another record breaking event

By Randy Hollowell, IT Services

For the eighth consecutive year, the Miami community showed it cares about reducing clutter and preventing identity theft by breaking the previous year’s mark for the amount of documents shredded at ShredFest. With 146 people attending this year’s ShredFest, and providing over 9,700 pounds of paper to be shredded. The total weight of 9,750 surpassed the 8,950 pounds collected last year. This was also the best attended ShredFest yet, surpassing last year’s total by 11.

Shedding truck waiting to be filled at Middletown campusShredFest was held at the Oxford, Middletown and Hamilton campuses. A mobile shredder from Document Destruction was on hand to provide secure, on-site shredding of both University and personal documents. Representatives from IT Services and the Office of General Counsel assisted with the shredding process, as well as working with attendees to make sure all University documents had reached the proper retention limit, and that the Records Disposal forms were completed.

The annual event, co-sponsored by IT Services and the Office of General Counsel, was held in Oxford on Thursday, May 17 and in Middletown and Hamilton on Monday, May 21.

According to Connie Johnson, data security analyst within IT Services, outdated paper documents can pose a significant risk for identity theft. “Anything that has a signature, an account number, social security number or medical information poses a risk. During ShredFest people drop off old bank statements and checks, ATM receipts, credit card receipts, address labels from junk mail, old utility bills, and outdated tax forms just to name a few items,” noted Johnson.

Johnson says that providing an annual shredding service for the campus and for the community helps to cut down the risk of data loss and provides a secure way to dispose of sensitive documents. “When people drop items off at the event, they tell us it gives them a sense of relief to finally get rid of old documents they no longer need and peace of mind that they are disposed of securely,” she said.

Plans for next year’s event are already underway, so look for a “save the date” announcement in February 2019.