Lethargy: a security threat?

Released 10/10/2008

During National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, I think it's our ‘I can't be bothered' attitude that might be the biggest problem

You know, it's not surprising that the security statistics are so bad, despite all the publicity around National Identity Fraud Prevention Week this week, 70% of respondents to a survey by deskdemon.com say they have no guidance from their company in terms of what they should shred and say, "I just use my initiative". Although, surely people's initiatives shouldn't be anything to sniff at as you would think people would understand that anything with data needs to go straight for the shredder. I think there would be a lot more recycling and shredding going on if everyone had their own mini shredders and recycling bins underneath their desks, or at least had one close enough that a graceful stretch would have their precious documents safely disposed of. I don't think it's ignorance so much as laziness we suffer from. I'm sure many go through the thought process, "just one piece of paper in the bin won't kill anyone," and toss it in.

I know I have those moments where the walk to the shredder and recycling station on the other side of my office seems like a feat of gargantuan proportions, so I make a little shredder/recycling stack under my feet and hope that I'll remember at the end of the day. The thing is, I'm the kind of person that sometimes struggles with gathering the energy to leave my desk, but sweat it out in hour-and-a-half spinning classes at the gym (if you've done spinning, you understand). So what is it about walking these couple of feet that is such a pain?

Mini-shredders might seem unfeasible for an entire office, but I fell a little bit in love with Ben the Bin from Dragon's Den, a biodegradable mini recycling bin that is small enough, and adorable enough, to sit on or around your desk, sparing you the hike.

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