Four ways self-storage owners can improve their physical document security

Information security should always be a constant concern for any self-storage owner. Protecting the vital information of your customers and your business is essential and many self-storage owners are taking security concerns seriously when it comes to digital and cyber-related threats. However, as self-storage owners store more documents digitally they may forget about comprehensive security measures for physical documents. Physical document storage is still common and unsavory people could have access to your employees' or customers’ private information if you don’t take the proper steps to secure and maintain those physical documents. We may live in the digital age, but physical document security remains an essential part of your self-storage facilities security plan. Here are a few tips to help self-storage owners improve their physical document security.

Track and control document access

All important physical documents should be stored in a secure room and only a select number of people should have access to that room. This means the storage room must stay locked and inaccessible to a vast majority of your team and if someone enters that room you are tracking who entered the room, when they entered the room, and why they entered the room? Creating a controlled access plan establishes a clear chain of command in your security process and creates an access history that you can follow if documents is missing or stolen. It is vital that you track whenever someone enters your storage room or at the very least give the key or access code to a select few. The more people you allow into a secure area the harder it is to ensure that your physical documents stay in that secure room. Taking this simple step can go a long way in your improving your physical document security.

Track what documents you are storing

Generally, it is a good rule of thumb to have a clear idea of what documents are being stored. Self-storage facilities can contain legal documents, financial documents, and even medical documents and it is important that you label and track these documents separately. In no circumstance should you just store your documents in a room and forget about them. Enhance the scope of your physical storage by creating an Excel spreadsheet, Word document, or tracking program to show what specific documents are being stored. This tracking process should show what the document is, who stored the document, when it was stored, and when it should be destroyed. Implementing a document tracking system ensures you know what physical documents you have and which ones you no longer need to store and can securely destroy.

Understand record retention requirements

If you are storing your physical documents for your business or storing physical documents for your customers it is vital that you understand the record retention requirements for those documents. Make sure you understand federal and state record retention requirements. For example, it is a general rule of thumb that you should retain at least three years of tax records in case you are audited. HIPPA related documents are required to be retained for six years at a minimum. Understand the rules and regulations for the retention of the documents you are storing. Knowing these requirements will educate you on if you need to retain certain documents and how long you have to retain them before you can securely destroy them. It is worth noting that document retention requirements vary from state to state so do your research for any state that you do business in.

Take steps to preserve documents

Secure document storage is also about the preservation of those documents. If you are storing important documents, then you have to ensure those remain in good condition until you destroy them. The room you store documents should be climate controlled, relatively free of humidity, and free of dirt and grime. If you really want to safeguard your documents, you can store them in a media vault. However, a well-ventilated and organized document storage space will do just fine for most self-storage owners. If you are unable to properly store and preserve these documents then I would recommend digitizing all your secure information.

Physical document storage may be less common today; however, many people and businesses today still use and store physical documents with sensitive information. As long as these physical documents exist you should take their security seriously. Implement a security strategy that tracks what documents you have and who accesses them and you will successfully protect our companies and your clients’ sensitive documents.

Jerry Dilk is the Senior Consultant of Information Governance at Data Storage Centers in Phoenix. Data Storage Centers are experts in the storage and organization of physical media and sensitive records.