Document Shredding (Aktenvernichtung)

The security levels

The DIN 66399 standard defines security levels from P-1 to P-7 for paper. For ordinary business records P-3 counts as the minimum, for personal data P-4, and for particularly sensitive data such as health or personnel files P-5. At P-4 the resulting particles are at most 160 mm², at P-5 at most 30 mm².

Data carriers have their own levels: H for hard drives, O for optical media, E for electronic data carriers. A hard drive destroyed to level H-4 is shredded so finely that reconstruction is practically ruled out.

Check the retention periods first

Before anything is destroyed, it has to be checked what must be kept. In Switzerland the Code of Obligations (Obligationenrecht) imposes a ten-year retention obligation on account books, accounting vouchers, business correspondence and the annual report. That obligation survives the dissolution of the business.

Personnel files, employment references, accident records and contracts have their own periods depending on the type of document. We set such records aside and hand them over to the client or the fiduciary (Treuhänder) instead of destroying them.

The destruction certificate

You should receive a certificate for every destruction run. It records the date, the quantity in kilograms or linear metres, the security level applied, the serial numbers in the case of data carriers, and the confirmation of the company carrying out the work. This certificate is your evidence towards supervisory authorities and towards the people whose data was involved.