All about paper shredders

Depending on the model, paper shredders shred paper into tiny pieces or very fine strips.

They are commonly used by individuals or companies who need to destroy papers or classified documents that contain personal or confidential information that could prove to be of danger to themselves or to the business if obtained by others. Documents are cut into tiny pieces so that no one can read them to obtain information. Experts in the field of privacy advise individuals to shred personal documents such as account statements, bills, and other important files before disposing of them so that they won’t fall into the hands of anyone seeking to use this information for nefarious purposes.

Avoid Identity Theft

Personal records and files should be destroyed to avoid identity theft. Identity theft occurs when one
person assumes the identity of another person by using his or her personal information. Shredding
important records and files makes them impossible to read and consequently eliminates the possibility of identity theft.

Although paper shredders enhance security by destroying files, carelessness in disposing of shredded
papers can negate that security. When shredded papers are left lying about or in the trash bin, they may
still be collected and put back together by investigators, nosy people, persons with criminal intent, or even spies. For maximum security, documents should be fed into the paper shredder horizontally, so that they are perpendicular to the blades of the shredder.

Most paper shredders come with their own trash bin. Those that don’t are designed to fit over different
sizes of trash bins. Models are categorized according to their size and style of paper shredding.

Strip Cut

Paper shredders using rotating knives cut paper into narrow strips as long as the original length of the
paper. This type of paper shredder provides minimal security, as the strips can be put back together by a
patient and determined investigator or thief. The strips should be thoroughly mixed by hand to help prevent this.

Cross Cut

Paper shredders using contra-rotating drums cut the paper into parallelograms or rectangles.

Particle Cut

A particle-cut paper shredder produces tiny squares or circles.

Granulators and Disintegrators

These paper shredders cut papers repeatedly at random until they are small particles that can be forced
through a mesh.

Pulverizers or Hammermills

These huge devices turn your papers into paper dust.

A Step Beyond Paper Shredding

In 1979, after the Iranian revolution, the U.S government hired Iranian carpet weavers to reassemble the
documents found shredded in the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Because of this, paper shredders were
developed that could pulverize, pulp, and decompose the shredded documents. Some devices used today are equipped with chemicals, burning materials, or composting materials that completely destroy
documents after shredding them, thus providing maximum security.

Reconstruction

Paper cut only into strips can be easily reconstructed by pasting or taping the strips back together. Pieces of shredded papers belonging to the same document stay close together in a trash bin unless they are disturbed by an external force. Also, when paper is fed into a shredder at other than a right angle to the blades, the results are longer strips with readable text. In the Enron scandal, it was possible to reassemble documents containing altered information because they had been fed through the paper shredder in the wrong way.

All About Paper Shredders