The History of Document Destruction

When it comes to paper shredding, your thoughts may first go to things like taxes, information security, and data destruction. You probably aren’t thinking too much about the history of paper shredding. But, document destruction has had a fascinating history that spans the globe and includes inventions that never came to light and hidden propaganda. With all of the technological advances that are constantly happening in the world of document destruction service and secure shredding equipment, it can be interesting to look to the past to discover where the idea of and technology for paper shredding originated.

 

The Beginnings of the Paper Shredder

For most of human history, the idea of paper shredding didn’t exist. People simply weren’t as concerned about their confidential information in the world before technology was advanced. In fact, it wasn’t until 1909 that the idea of the paper shredder was formed when a man named Abbot Agustus Low invented the first version of a paper shredding machine and gave rise to the idea of document destruction.

On February 2, 1909, Low filed the first-ever patent for a paper shredder. However, Low soon died after filing this patent. His death meant that his invention would never be manufactured, causing all of his hard work in creating the first step toward a document destruction service to never see the light of day.

 

The First Paper Shredder

It would be almost 30 years later before another version of the paper shredder would be used for document destruction. This version of the paper shredder was invented in 1935 by a man named Adolf Ehinger. Ehinger was a German man who spent his time creating anti-Nazi leaflets and propaganda. Because speaking out against the Nazis was so dangerous, Ehinger needed a way to ensure that his dangerous paper materials wouldn’t lead to his capture. There was no such thing as a document destruction service in 1935, so Ehinger needed to create his own way to safely destroy his sensitive documents.

Ehinger took inspiration from the most unlikely of places – a pasta maker. The hand crank of the pasta maker helped him envision a way of destroying sensitive documents that would work in a similar fashion, and he created the next known version of a paper shredder. Ehinger’s invention was so successful that he continued to manufacture paper shredders, eventually making a business out of them and selling this new way of document destruction to different governments around the world.

 

Modern-Day Improvements

Document destruction has come a long way since Ehinger’s pasta maker-inspired paper shredder in the 1930s. As the amount of confidential information that individuals, businesses, and governments produced increased, so did the risk of thieves stealing confidential documents to steal money and commit identity theft. These heightened risks led to new innovations in paper shredding and paper shredding services such as more secure shredding techniques, mobile shredding, and hard drive destruction.

 

More Secure Shredding

When paper shredding was first invented, paper shredders really only worked to cut paper up into smaller pieces, making them difficult – but not impossible – to reassemble. However, as criminals became more informed on paper shredding techniques, they figured out ways to take these “destroyed” documents and gleam enough information from them to successfully steal money, secure information, and even identities. It became clear that simple shredding techniques weren’t going to cut it.

Now, modern-day shredders use a variety of shredding techniques in order to ensure that people’s data is destroyed in a way that is secure and impossible for criminals to reassemble. Different shredding technologies include strip-cut shredders, disintegrators, pierce-and-tear shredders, and grinders. All of these different kinds of shredders utilize a variety of techniques to ensure that data is safely and securely destroyed.

Mobile Shredding

When you’re transporting sensitive documents from one location to another before they have been shredded, there is an increased chance of the documents being stolen and the confidential information they contain being compromised. That’s why a quality document destruction service will utilize mobile shredding in order to better protect their customer’s data.

Mobile shredding utilizes shredding trucks, essentially taking these industrial shredders right to the client themselves. So, if you own a business that works with sensitive documents containing customers’ private information, you don’t have to worry that anything will be stolen during transportation. Instead, you can watch right from your parking lot as your documents are shredded securely.

Hard Drive Destruction

Over time, the way in which information is stored has evolved. This means that the way in which that information is destroyed has had to evolve, too. As more and more information is stored on computers instead of paper, a new solution had to be created to ensure that this information remains safe and can’t be hacked. This solution takes the form of hard drive destruction.

Many people know that they shouldn’t simply throw away a hard drive after they are no longer using it. But, what many people don’t know is that they can get a quality document destruction service to destroy it for them, ensuring their information’s security and safety. Hard drive destruction is a form of document destruction that safely destroys old hard drives in a way that prevents anyone from ever being able to hack into them and retrieve sensitive information. Now, your digital data can be just as safe as your paper data.

Why is ProshredⓇ Delaware the best paper shredding company in Delaware?

ProshredⓇ Delaware is the perfect Delaware shredding company for your document destruction needs, because we understand the importance of ensuring your peace of mind when it comes to your sensitive information. As a quality document destruction service, we utilize the most advanced shredding technology from mobile shredding to hard drive destruction in order to keep your information out of the wrong hands. We also hold the necessary Delaware State permits to destroy hard drives, data tapes, and paper on-site. If you’re looking for the best shredding services Delaware, look no further than ProshredⓇ Delaware. Contact us to learn more about our paper shredding services and how we can help you with your document destruction today.