What Is the History Behind Shredding Services?

A document shredder is a mechanical apparatus that is used to cut paper into fine particles much like confetti, or into strips. Document shredding ensures that sensitive documents are properly destroyed so that a third party is unable to read and use the document for criminal purposes. The importance of destroying private documents has always been emphasized for protecting organizations and individuals. Businesses have to ensure that sensitive documents do not fall into the wrong hands and individuals have to protect themselves from theft and identity theft. It is unusual that paper shredding took so long to become a popular practice as it is such a vital necessity for individual protection and protection of an organization. The history behind shredding services is an interesting story.

In 1935, Adolf Ehinger of Germany created a paper shredder that was derived from a hand-crank pasta maker. It has been reported that he used his shredder to shred his anti-Nazi propaganda. He later changed the hand-crank to a motor and sold the shredder to financial institutions and government agencies. Ehinger's company, EBA Maschinenfabrik, manufactured the first cross-cut paper shredders in 1959 and the company still manufactures paper shredders under the name EBA Krug & Priester. Abbot Augustus Low of Horseshoe in Piercefield, New York, is credited as the inventor of the paper shredder. His patent identified a shredder as a "waste paper receptacle" and was granted on August 31, 1909.

In the US, there was a dramatic increase in the use of shredders by the public and organizations of all types due to the Watergate scandal where G. Gordon Liddy used a shredder to get rid of evidence linked to the 1972 break-in at the National Democratic Party headquarters. Governments began to realize the importance of using paper shredders in 1979 when the American Embassy in Tehran was taken over by Iranian militants. During this time, highly classified documents that were being shredded were pieced back together with the help of Iranian women who were experts at Persian carpet weaving. Following this event, high security shredders were created to reduce security risks.

The Iran-Contra scandal that involved Oliver North is another famous historical shredder event. Oliver North along with his secretary Fawn Hall shredded documents that were linked to the Iran-Contra scandal. More recently, the Enron scandal and its volumes of shredded documents is another example of events that pushed the demand for document shredders by business, government, and individuals.

Today document shredders are made of efficient technology to shred papers permanently with no chance of someone putting the pieces back together. Their purpose is not to cover up criminal activities, but to ensure private documents do not fall into the wrong hands which could hurt an organization or individual. As well, Legislation such as the GLBA and HIPAA was passed to protect private financial and health information of American citizens. Shredding is now a common practice because organization and citizens have to protect themselves from malicious elements that are intent on doing harm. Document shredding is now a big business and you can find shredding services and shredding machines in just about every type of industry as well as in households.

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