How do I dispose of records securely?

Secure disposition is about how you destroy records once they’ve reached the end of their retention period — doing it in a way that is both irreversible (for sensitive material) and defensible.

First, confirm you’re allowed to destroy them

Before any destruction:

• The records’ retention period has ended and destruction is authorized by the retention schedule.
• There is no litigation hold, audit, or investigation requiring preservation.

Destroying records you were obligated to keep — or that are under hold — is far worse than keeping them too long.

Match the method to the medium and sensitivity

• Paper — recycling is fine for non-sensitive records; cross-cut shredding (or pulping/incineration) for anything containing PII or confidential information.
• Electronic files — deletion alone may leave recoverable data. For sensitive data, use secure deletion or, at end of life, media sanitization following guidance like NIST SP 800-88 (clear, purge, or destroy).
• Storage media and devices — wipe or physically destroy drives before disposal or reuse.
• Classified records — follow the specific destruction rules for their classification level.

Document it

Keep a record of destruction — what was destroyed, when, under what authority, and by what method (often a destruction certificate, especially when a vendor does the shredding). This documentation is what makes the disposition defensible if it’s ever questioned.

Use a trustworthy process

Many organizations use bonded destruction vendors for paper and media, with certificates of destruction. Whatever the method, the principles are the same: authorized, appropriate to sensitivity, not under hold, and documented. That combination is what turns “we threw it out” into defensible disposition.