NAID CERTIFIED:  NAID AAA Certification is the gold standard for paper shredding companies that keeps you safe.  The AAA Certification is an organizational recognition that is awarded after a successful audit (and then continued scheduled and randoms over time) by an independent, 3rd party, security professional.  NAID AAA Certification allows us to go “beyond just claims” that we are secure.  

Anyone is free to buy an old, used, shred truck that a professional shred company is retiring and then claim that they offer “secure shredding”.  These sorts of amateurs usually have no online reviews from thrilled customers on Google, and they may be asking you to sacrifice your security in order to save a few bucks.  

Their message is the same, they assert that if you can watch the paper be shred, why does anything else matter.  At times, these companies even lie and are dishonest and claim that they are NAID AAA Certified, or that they basically do everything to be certified, but just haven’t gotten the “actual certification”.  These sorts of entry level, hobbyist shred companies claim that NAID AAA Certification is just a piece of paper, and they are secure…no matter what…because they say so.  

We are proud to be one of ~1,200 companies world-wide with the AAA Certification from NAID.  NAID is an international group and you can always find out the most current details about who is certified, and who is not certified right here, on their website.  

We are not only members of NAID, and NAID AAA Certified for many years, but the President of Shred Northwest is on NAID’s global Board of Directors, and was recognized as both a 2015 NAID Member Of The Year and the 2016 NAID Member of the Year. Brock’s service on the NAID-Complaint Resolution Council has helped him see the shortcuts companies try to take, and this service helps Shred Northwest to operate at the highest standards. Having also served on the CSDS Board of Regents for NAID, Brock’s service has helped bring forth the industry’s first textbook on Information Destruction principles.

There is a difference between being a NAID Member, and being NAID AAA Certified. We are AAA Certified with “endorsements for

• Onsite Paper Records Destruction
• Onsite Computer Media Destruction-Physical

Originally Certified: 11/15/2010

Certification Expires: 11/30/2021

Learn more Here

NAID CERTIFIED:  NAID AAA Certification is the gold standard for paper shredding companies that keeps you safe.  The AAA Certification is an organizational recognition that is awarded after a successful audit (and then continued scheduled and randoms over time) by an independent, 3rd party, security professional.  NAID AAA Certification allows us to go “beyond just claims” that we are secure.  

Anyone is free to buy an old, used, shred truck that a professional shred company is retiring and then claim that they offer “secure shredding”.  These sorts of amateurs usually have no online reviews from thrilled customers on Google, and they may be asking you to sacrifice your security in order to save a few bucks.  

Their message is the same, they assert that if you can watch the paper be shred, why does anything else matter.  At times, these companies even lie and are dishonest and claim that they are NAID AAA Certified, or that they basically do everything to be certified, but just haven’t gotten the “actual certification”.  These sorts of entry level, hobbyist shred companies claim that NAID AAA Certification is just a piece of paper, and they are secure…no matter what…because they say so.  

We are proud to be one of ~1,200 companies world-wide with the AAA Certification from NAID.  NAID is an international group and you can always find out the most current details about who is certified, and who is not certified right here, on their website.  

We are not only members of NAID, and NAID AAA Certified for many years, but the President of Shred Northwest is on NAID’s global Board of Directors, and was recognized as both a 2015 NAID Member Of The Year and the 2016 NAID Member of the Year. Brock’s service on the NAID-Complaint Resolution Council has helped him see the shortcuts companies try to take, and this service helps Shred Northwest to operate at the highest standards. Having also served on the CSDS Board of Regents for NAID, Brock’s service has helped bring forth the industry’s first textbook on Information Destruction principles.

There is a difference between being a NAID Member, and being NAID AAA Certified. We are AAA Certified with “endorsements for:

• Onsite Paper Records Destruction
• Onsite Computer Media Destruction-Physical

Originally Certified: 11/15/2010

Certification Expires: 11/30/2021

Learn more Here

CERTIFIED SECURE DESTRUCTION SPECIALIST:  In addition to being NAID AAA Certified Shred Northwest also has a Certified Secure Destruction Specialist (CSDS) leading its team. A CSDS has a “competency in a range of subject areas related to the secure destruction of information and the secure destruction of other items.” (NAID official website).  Brock Miller served for many years as a member of the CSDS Board of Regents.  As a past chair of that board, Brock is excited about the future of this prestigious accreditation program.  Over the past several years, one of the most important projects for the CSDS Board of Regents has been to help support NAID CEO Bob Johnson publish his textbook; Information Disposition.  For more information about the CSDS program, please see NAID’s publication page 10.  

For many years there were no other CSDS’s professionals in Oregon.  To obtain the CSDS accreditation, the candidate must successfully pass a rigorous test with hundreds of questions related to regulatory legislation, risk management, security, and more.  Each year there are continuing education requirements that must be met in order to keep the accreditation.  A current list of CSDS accredited individuals can be found here.

CERTIFIED SECURE DESTRUCTION SPECIALIST:  In addition to being NAID AAA Certified Shred Northwest also has a Certified Secure Destruction Specialist (CSDS) leading its team. A CSDS has a “competency in a range of subject areas related to the secure destruction of information and the secure destruction of other items.” (NAID official website).  Brock Miller served for many years on the CSDS Board of Regents.  As a past chair of that board, Brock is excited about the future of this prestigious accreditation program.  Over the past several years, one of the most important projects for the CSDS Board of Regents has been to help support NAID CEO Bob Johnson publish his textbook; Information Disposition.  For more information about the CSDS program, please see NAID’s publication page 10.  

For many years there were no other CSDS’s professionals in Oregon.  To obtain the CSDS accreditation, the candidate must successfully pass a rigorous test with hundreds of questions related to regulatory legislation, risk management, security, and more.  Each year there are continuing education requirements that must be met in order to keep the accreditation.  A current list of CSDS accredited individuals can be found here.

HIPAA COMPLIANCE:  There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding claims of “we’re HIPAA compliant”.  What does a shred company need to do in order to claim HIPAA Compliance?  With the help from the experts at NAID, we share with you 5 steps.

1. Complete a risk assessment.  

Considering that a Shred Company is safeguarding Protected Health Information (PHI) for only a VERY brief moment (compared to a doctor’s office), the scope of a thorough risk assessment for a paper shredding services company is narrow.

 2.Background Check/Screen Employees.

At Shred Northwest we complete annual background checks for each of our “Access” employees and look back in time as far as is legally appropriate.  Felons, and individuals with theft related petty crime are ineligible to work for us as “Access Employees”.

 3.Training! Training! Training! (from a foundation of written policies and procedures).

At Shred Northwest we have training videos, and a comprehensive set of written policies and procedures that are updated at least annually.  We don’t want a breach, and you don’t want excuses.  Training, training, training is how we accomplish both of those goals.

4.Maintain an incident report log.

Like safety, and other highly regulated workplace activities, part of the expected best practices of maintaining a secure environment, and part of being compliant with HIPAA is writing down and keeping a record of any incident.  The US Health and Human Services department does not want to have incidents forgotten or swept under the rug.  Shred Northwest has never had an incident, but if we do, we will log it.

5.Have an effective Business Associate Agreement (BAA) in place.

If you are a covered entity, then you should not work with a paper shredding, or hard drive shredding company unless there is a signed BAA in place.  Shred Northwest has a BAA that you can sign. Frequently, Shred Northwest will sign the BAA that is provided from the Covered Entity.  Our agreement is fair and mutually protective and we expect to sign similar, reasonable BAA’s with reasonable expectations of risk and liability.

More information about HIPAA can be found here.

HIPAA COMPLIANCE:  There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding claims of “we’re HIPAA compliant”.  What does a shred company need to do in order to claim HIPAA Compliance?  With the help from the experts at NAID, we share with you 5 steps.

1. Complete a risk assessment.  

Considering that a Shred Company is safeguarding Protected Health Information (PHI) for only a VERY brief moment (compared to a doctor’s office), the scope of a thorough risk assessment for a paper shredding services company is narrow.

 2.Background Check/Screen Employees.

At Shred Northwest we complete annual background checks for each of our “Access” employees and look back in time as far as is legally appropriate.  Felons, and individuals with theft related petty crime are ineligible to work for us as “Access Employees”.

 3.Training! Training! Training! (from a foundation of written policies and procedures).

At Shred Northwest we have training videos, and a comprehensive set of written policies and procedures that are updated at least annually.  We don’t want a breach, and you don’t want excuses.  Training, training, training is how we accomplish both of those goals.

4.Maintain an incident report log.

Like safety, and other highly regulated workplace activities, part of the expected best practices of maintaining a secure environment, and part of being compliant with HIPAA is writing down and keeping a record of any incident.  The US Health and Human Services department does not want to have incidents forgotten or swept under the rug.  Shred Northwest has never had an incident, but if we do, we will log it.

5.Have an effective Business Associate Agreement (BAA) in place.

If you are a covered entity, then you should not work with a paper shredding, or hard drive shredding company unless there is a signed BAA in place.  Shred Northwest has a BAA that you can sign. Frequently, Shred Northwest will sign the BAA that is provided from the Covered Entity.  Our agreement is fair and mutually protective and we expect to sign similar, reasonable BAA’s with reasonable expectations of risk and liability.

More information about HIPAA can be found here.