Best Results Organizing

You’ve finished your taxes, mailed them off, filed away copies of your returns and supporting documents, and taken a breather. But what about all those scribbles of worksheets, non-essential receipts and other statements that you don’t need to maintain and store away? (You do know the difference, right?)

On Saturday, April 21, 2012, 72 Better Business Bureau locations are helping you observe Secure Your ID Day by sponsoring community shred-a-thons.

Here at Paper Doll, we’ve spoken often on the importance of protecting your identity:

Will The Real Paper Doll Please Stand Up?

A Boy Named Sue May Hate His Name (but that doesn’t mean you can steal it!)

The Big OUCH!!! (Medical Identity Theft–Part 1)

Doctor, It Hurts When Total Strangers Do This! (Medical Identity Theft, part 2)

so you know that documents you choose not to maintain need to be safely destroyed.

We’ve also talked about picking a shredder in Shredding the Documents: Find Your Shredding Solution and even debated the merits of privacy stampers. (Remember Stamping Out the Evidence: Are Stampers a Viable Alternative to Shredders?) But if you’ve got a mountain of paperwork, you probably want to skip the constant buzzing of a shredder as you make your way to the bottom of the pile.

So, moms and dads, small business owners, volunteers and professional organizers, gather up any paper (and computer discs) with personally-identifying information (but which you no longer need), and transport it (securely!) to your nearest participating U.S. or Canadian Better Business Bureau location. BBB-partnered document destruction specialists in your area will shred your documents (for free) and help you preserve your good name.

Here’s your game plan:

1) File away your essential tax-supporting documents.

2) Gather all the papers you no longer need to keep — anything bearing your Social Security or Employer Identification number, account numbers or other personal or sensitive information.

3) Head to the nearest Secure Your ID Day event to get your documents shredded.

4) Review past Paper Doll posts on protecting yourself against identity theft and peruse some of these resources:

Everyday Habits To Safeguard Your Identity — The Better Business Bureau offers its words of wisdom on simple steps to take to protect your family’s data.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Microsite — Avail yourself of the latest information on identity scammers and hoaxes, resources for reporting identity theft, and materials for educating your community to protect against identity theft.

The Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Privacy and Security Business Center — Do you run a web site for your business? Review the actions you can take to protect children’s privacy and general consumer privacy, abide by rules regarding credit reporting documents and keep data secure.

Security Privacy Made Simpler — If you run a small business and are wondering what you need to be doing to protect your data and your customers’ information, this report is your one-stop shop. It details how to draft a privacy policy, secure data, and integrate data security policies into your company’s daily operations.

   Remember, you are the only you you’ve got. Protect your identity!