Paper shredding is one of the most critical elements of managing the safety of discarded hard copies of the 21st century. It is the key to preventing identity theft and data breaches, ensuring legal compliance, and maintaining best-in-industry standards of credibility & trust with clients.
But even as we have accepted it as part and parcel of business, most of us are unaware of the history of paper shredding. The paper shredding industry takes us back more than a century, and today, we're going to take you on a trip to that time to educate you on how paper shredding began and evolved with time.
Where did the Paper Shredder Originate?
It was in the year 1909 when the first patent of paper shredder was submitted; it was based on the design of a hand-operated pasta-maker.
Although the original design idea didn't make it through, it inspired the industry to follow & develop the technology that we rely on these days.
Adolf Ehinger invented the first paper shredder in the 1930s in Germany.
But, much to the surprise of many, his machine was not created to shred the business documents. Instead, it was meant to get rid of his anti-Nazi propaganda papers to avoid being caught by the state police.
Advances in Technology
As discussed earlier, the first paper shredder was similar to a pasta-making machine. A single piece of paper would pass through the shredder, and it would cut the paper into slices.
During the early days, this shredding method seemed sufficient for the protection of sensitive documents of any organization.
However, with time, the criminals became much more sophisticated and came up with ways to access sensitive information from the destroyed documents. Therefore, the paper shredding industry had to advance to get rid of these strips too. And so, now, the shredding is such that once the paper has been shredded, it is next to possible to retrieve the information.
How has the Paper Shredding Industry Evolved?
As the demands of confidential document destruction became more onerous, the industry, in response, began to evolve. For example, mobile paper shredding became popular; it allowed the documents to be destroyed at your office premises itself. Before the disposal of each document, the documents are kept confidential and secure to ensure complete peace of mind where security is concerned.
Also, we now have state regulations on how the documents containing sensitive or personal data of their clients must be shredded.
To boil it down, from the prototype of the pasta-making machine to fully-secure, reliable document destruction, paper shredding has come a long way. And, there is no stopping as the industry is adapting continuously to keep pace with technological evolution & demands of businesses.
We are a leading on-site paper shredding Perth company offering secure, confidential document destruction services. We destroy and recycle to save our planet earth. Feel free to call us on 0458 088 000 or email: frank@cdd1.com.au.
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