Paper shredding companies across northern Ontario are beginning to enjoy an increase in business thanks to growing awareness of Ontario’s new privacy law.
The privacy law (PIPEDA) has prompted an estimated 10 per cent increase in the door-to-door shredding business and it looks as though the trend could continue to grow.
“People are looking to shred more paper,” Al Lajeunesse, part owner of Amirault Shredding Services LTD in Chelmsford says. “Because of the Act people are now trying to maintain more confidentiality by shredding their documents. In the past they would send them to landfill sites. The new law has made people more careful.”
The law that came into effect on Jan 1, 2004 states that a company found guilty of using previously gathered information for any other purpose than what it was collected for, could face a fine of up to $100,000.
Jerry Shaw, instructor of the Shredding department at Team Werks co-operative in Thunder Bay, says that while the government has appeared to take the necessary precautions, small private companies have failed to follow suit.
