Technically not every small business needs to comply but it makes business sense to implement.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released “Privacy Business Resource 10” answering the question of whether or not your small business needs to comply with the Privacy Act.
Under the Privacy Act, a small business is one that does not have an annual turnover greater than $3 million. Whilst many small businesses do not need to comply with the APPs, some small businesses that handle personal information do.
Technically “Personal information is information or an opinion that identifies or could reasonably identify an individual.” At Shred-X we would argue that this should cover most businesses given the collection of personal information can be as simple as hard copies of emails, orders and accounts; or written notes from client contacts, meetings and phone calls.
Our stance has always been sound data destruction policies is excellent business practice. Holding Redlich Brisbane partner Michael Grosser reinforces this message in aBrisbane Business News article explaining that “being compliant and able to market that when tendering for work makes a business that much more trustworthy and attractive.”
At the end of the day … privacy is good for business!
Please note “the information provided in (the OAIC) resource is of a general nature. It is not a substitute for legal advice. Small businesses will need to consider how the Privacy Act applies to their particular situation.”
For over 15 years Shred-X Document Destruction has been the leader in secure destruction services. We assist organisations in complying with the Privacy Act 1988 and its Amendments providing tailored services to thousands of commercial sites and households across Australia.
Shred-X is very proud to be the ONLY Australian document destruction company withseven (7) NAID AAA certified sites across Australia:
- Adelaide
- Brisbane
- Hobart
- Melbourne
- Perth
- Sydney
- Townsville
Our secure destruction services include paper shredding, digital media destruction (hard drives, CDs, credit cards), archive box cleanouts and uniform destruction to name a few.