whats the point in shredding up your documents before throwing them away?

People dig in trash all the time. I see them looking for cans and bottles.

Well, maybe they stumble upon a credit card application in your name, or a bank account statement. Next thing you know, they have a credit card in your name or are transferring money out of our bank account.

Yes. If you have important financial documents such as bank statements, credit card statements, etc., they have information on them that can be used for identity theft. I shred my documents, toss them in the compost pile, and then use the shredded documents in my garden. I also recycle them when my compost pile is full. The local high school has a paper drive dumpster that I dump them into.

It's a matter of personal security.

If you merely throw out your documents (such as credit card bills, etc), anyone can grab them out of the trash and use your personal information against you!

On the other hand, shredders make that impossible, turning your papers into a pile of unreadable tidbits, none of which can do them any good.

In other words, Misha, instead of merely tossing your old tax returns into the garbage bag, shred them, and THEN either toss them....or burn them! It's one way to safeguard things such as your social security number.

Yes, people do dig in the garbage...

There was a local case in my area where an establishment was improperly disposing of Employee documents. Their social security and everything was on there...better safe than sorry ;D

You would be surprised at the lengths individuals go through to get other peoples personal information. It doesn't hurt to try and throw them off by shredding.

pondering Bernie Williams' #fifty one wasn't given to Randy Johnson and Paul O'Neill's #21 substitute into given to LaTroy Hawkins hazard is #fifty one would be retired yet #21 isn't retired. From the championship years the Yankees might desire to retire right here numbers. #2 Derek Jeter #6 Joe Torre #fifty one Bernie Williams

It helps to prevent identity theft. And yes, there are people who do dig through other people's trash in order to commit identity theft.

Illegals and those that support criminal activity dig through your trash to find out personal information so that they may steal your identity and make money off of it, selling it to illegals.

Shredding makes documents almost impossible to read. I prefer to burn my trash.

What's Shredding