document storage Archives

Articles Tagged with: document storage

September 30, 2022

5 – Incredible Storage Efficiency

Most of us already know that digital documents are far easier to store than paper, but rarely do we recognize just how great the difference is. One way to think about it that we’ve explored in a previous blog is to imagine all of the pages of documents that a single, one-terabyte hard drive could store as printed papers all in one place. Using Microsoft Word for this hypothetical, you could store over 80,000,000 pages in a single terabyte. That’s a big number, but what would that look like in reality? If they were all printed on 0.05mm thick paper, double-sided, the stack would stand over a full two kilometres tall, roughly the height of three Burj Kalifa’s (the tallest building in the world, at 830m). When you think about a terabyte of data, remember just how much paper it’s worth.

Add to that the ability to organize and search through these files instantly, without having to flip through dozens of pages to find what you’re looking for, and it’s clear that digital files make for more useful information systems.

But space is not the only concern; what about cost? Many people think of paper as negligibly cheap, but as even a small organization knows, buying paper in bulk can be expensive. Printers and cartridges are also expensive, meaning that any business processes that include the creation of new paper documents will have to account for ongoing costs. Finally, if you ever want to archive your old files in a secure facility, paper files will take up a lot of space, and require rigorous physical security measures. By contrast, cloud storage solutions are both cheap, and easily scalable, should you ever wish to expand the archive.

4 – Greater Utility

Paper documents can be used for a lot of things, but they still can’t compete with the flexibility and broad applicability of digital files. You can print or write whatever you want onto a paper document, or type or draw it into a digital file. But you can’t search a sheet of paper for specific words, instantly duplicate it or its contents, or compute and analyze its data, unless you digitize it. There’s a whole world of powerful digital tools that you can use to enhance your operation or streamline your processes. With document imaging, these tools can be used to leverage the full potential of your information by freeing it from the confines of paper pages.

3 – Preservation and Redundancy

We often think of paper as being secure and permanent because it’s tangible, and it ages slowly. But even well-maintained pages will eventually tear and become brittle. It’s true that hard drives don’t last forever either, but unlike paper, digital files can be copied onto other, newer hard drives almost instantly.

Redundancy is an important part of preservation; with redundant copies, if anything happens to the original copy, you’ll have a backup. Every time you create an additional paper copy of a document it costs you money to produce, takes up more space, and takes, at the very least, a few seconds per page to duplicate. Digital files are already duplicated every single time you move, edit, share, or copy them, and it happens nearly instantly per page.

Another factor to consider is the centralization of information in cloud storage. When you upload files to whatever cloud service you already use (or should be using), they’re saved to a massive database in a secure location far away. These sites store incredible amounts of information, and the companies that own them rely on their clients’ happy satisfaction to turn a profit. Any delays or interruptions to their clients’ access will damage their reputation and hurt their bottom line, so they go to great lengths to prevent that from happening.

With the power of the internet, the location of a cloud server doesn’t matter very much, aside from local information laws. That means that there are only a handful of these sites around the world, storing information for thousands of businesses and hundreds of millions of users. The point is: these companies rake in a ton of revenue. Reinvesting this revenue back into their business means enhancing their network connections and strengthening multiple layers of physical and digital security so that your files are as safe as possible from security or cybersecurity breaches, natural disasters, and other forms of loss or damage.

2 – Security and Legality

As already mentioned, for many people, the tangibility of paper makes it feel more reliable and secure. By contrast, the average person’s understanding of digital technology and cybersecurity might lead some to believe that information connected to the internet is uniquely vulnerable to hackers or malware. From this perspective, it seems like document imaging would worsen your information security. These concerns are not necessarily unfounded, as completely unprotected access to the internet can be very risky.

However, in the current digital age, most digital tools and online systems have rigorous protections built right in. If you’re an average consumer or small to medium business, you probably use one of the mainstream suites of software tools, like Microsoft Office, Google Suite, or the various Mac OS products. All of these have built-in security measures to protect you from standard security concerns like malware and phishing attacks. If you store your digital files in encrypted cloud storage and use reputable tools, imaging your documents actually improves their security.

Metadata is the reason why protected digital documents are Nearly every software system available does some amount of metadata tracking. This means that the program records details about its use, such as the user or IP address using it, when and for how long it was used, and what was done with it (among many other things). If someone accesses or changes a file, a comprehensive, automated metadata system will record it. This means that you’ll always know what has or has not happened to your information.

Paper documents, of course, do not have automatic metadata. If someone who’s not supposed to can view sensitive documents, they’ll have that information, and you’ll have no way of knowing that they do. If a sensitive piece of information gets leaked (e.g. trade secrets, confidential client information), you’ll be able to use metadata to narrow down the list of people who may be responsible to just those that had access. With paper documents, you’re left guessing. With proper metadata systems in place, imaging your documents brings them into a far more secure space, where they’re always under the watchful eye of automated overseers.

1 – Organizational Flexibility

Without a doubt, the number one way in which document imaging will benefit your business is by making your organization more flexible. This may sound insignificant, but flexibility is crucial for responding to changes and crises; crises like the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020. Organizations that were able to switch to an entirely or partially remote work model were able to maintain business and keep their members safer. That kind of remote work is only possible with digital information; organizations that relied on paper files either had to forgo those files for a time or drastically cut down the number of people allowed into their office.

The COVID-19 pandemic is just one example, and an extreme one at that. The flexibility that digital information systems offer can benefit you in more ways than the option to work from home. With the ability to transmit information across continents in seconds, the physical distance between your organization and its partners becomes less of a factor, opening up new business opportunities. The storage efficiency mentioned previously gives you more options for storing mass amounts of data, and the ability to move it quickly or access it over great distances means it can be relocated or shared nearly instantly.

Whether the next crisis your organization faces is a natural disaster, a recession, or something else entirely, document imaging makes your information flexible enough to accommodate whatever adaptation is necessary. But you should not wait for the crisis to come to you before imaging. Though the outcome of document imaging is flexible digital information, the process of imaging your files must be done in person, with your files in one place. It also takes time to discuss, arrange, prepare, and execute, so the onset of a new crisis is already too late.

In order to protect your organization and its success through whatever new crises may be coming, you should image your documents beforehand. Imaging your documents early also brings you all the benefits discussed in the earlier points, so there are no downsides. Contact us today to learn more and to see how we can help protect you from disaster.

September 8, 2022

What’s the best way to store your important documents?

Document storage is a key part of any organization’s business solutions, whether or not its business model is information-based. Deciding where or how to store your documents might be a simple, one-afternoon fix if you’re a small or new company, but it can be a headache for any sizeable organization unless appropriately managed.

We decided to write a guide to the various document storage solutions available, to hopefully make it easier to choose the best way to store your important documents. However, before we can review your options, we must know what to look for.

What does good document storage require?

There are two angles to “good” document storage to consider: what is most advantageous for your operation, and what is in line with the legislation to which you must comply. Of course, this distinction, though helpful, is arbitrary, as complying with legislation is almost always better for your operation than risking costly fines or prosecution.

Operational Considerations

The operational aspects are pretty straightforward. You have and use documents (be they physical, paper documents, or digital files of some kind) because the information they contain is useful. You keep them in storage because that useful information will be helpful again in the future. Thus, good storage needs to have enough capacity to hold everything you want to hold onto, and it needs to be as accessible as possible so that you can access that information when you need it, not after. Keeping your storage organized is a big part of accessibility, as disorganized are hard to find.

Finally, like with every element of your operation, your storage needs to be cost-effective. Keeping your documents secure and organized is essential, but unless you deal with especially sensitive information, you probably don’t need expensive top-of-the-line security measures. Standard encryption or locks will probably do the job.

How does legislation affect document storage requirements?

Things get a little more complicated, however, when we introduce legislation. As we’ve covered in previous posts, Canadian federal legislation leaves a lot of room for flexible solutions in records management. Rather than try to write rules covering every possible circumstance or situation an organization might be in, the legislation leaves it very much up to you to manage your own records. The only things required of you are that your organization abide by some minimum standards and core principles.

The most critical minimum standards to keep in mind are retention periods. These rules require you to hold onto various business documents for several years after they’re created, even if they’re no longer relevant to your operation. The amount of time you need to keep a record varies between document types, but it is usually a six-year period. However, when that six-year period begins also depends on the type of document, as well as the kind of organization. At most, the period could start as late as 364 days after it was created, so to be careful, it’s best practice to hold onto all of your business documents for at least seven years – eight if you’re extra cautious. (Read more about retention periods here.)

But what counts as a “business document?” If you only have to hold onto a small portion of your documents, retention periods won’t affect your storage needs very much. In reality, however, nearly every piece of information your organization interacts with counts as a business document. Financial documents, transaction records, personnel records, internal memos, official meeting minutes and correspondence; all of these and more need to be retained for various lengths of time. In the context of storage solutions, “good” storage includes high capacity and scalability.

There are a few exceptions, generally anything especially unimportant (i.e. not legally, operationally, or financially relevant). These are called “transitory records” and can be disposed of whenever you wish. However, given the penalties for non-compliance, and the suspicion that an absent file can raise, it may be better for you to retain mundane documents to prove an absence of suspicious activity. (Read more about records maintenance legislation here.)

One notable exception to this general policy of “keep it all” is personal information (i.e. identifying information about individuals outside of the organization). Many organizations collect personal information in their regular course of business, either to tailor their goods and services to their customers or for targeted advertising. Canadian federal legislation has almost the opposite approach to personal information; the general policy is to get rid of it as soon as possible. According to legislation, you need to have a specific reason for collecting a piece of personal information. Once that purpose has expired, the information should be securely disposed of unless you used that information to make a decision that affects the person to whom it pertains. In that case, the information, and record of the decision made about it, need to be accessible to the individual for long enough that they have a reasonable opportunity to access it and challenge the decision if they so wish. (Read more about personal information legislation here; for more information on records management, check out our blog series: A Guide to Records Management.)

What are your options for document storage?

Option 1: Paper Filing

In general, digital storage is far more efficient, secure, and legally reliable than storing paper documents (if you do it right); plus, it comes with additional benefits like remote access and instant duplication (learn more here). We strongly encourage any organization to digitalize as much of their operation as possible due to the efficiency, security, and accessibility advantages digital systems offer.

However, some organizations may choose to or have to retain some paper documents. Depending on the number and sensitivity of these physical documents, it may be most cost-effective to store them in filing cabinets or lock boxes at your facility. However, this consumes valuable space in your facility or office that you could better utilize for your core business. Storing all of your paper documents in the office may also be untenable if you have a huge number of files. Various companies offer secure document storage off-site, though their business model may require you to pay them every time you want to access one of your own records.

Option 2: Digital Storage In-house

Almost every organization doing business in developed societies already uses some amount of digital storage, so this should be familiar territory. If you’re looking to scale up your digital storage capacity in-house or to improve the storage you’ve already got, you’ll need to ensure you have high-quality I.T. professionals on hand to help you set it up and maintain it. To keep your files organized and accessible, you’ll need to think about who in your organization needs access to what and how often, as well as develop an indexing schema that’s intuitive enough to be understood without thorough instruction, yet comprehensive enough to organize everything effectively.

How secure your digital storage will need to be, depends on how sensitive the information is. An organization of any size needs to protect its financial information, so some extra security measures beyond those built into your software tools are likely warranted. Regular monitoring and maintenance by your I.T. team, strong and frequently rotated passwords, educating your employees about good digital hygiene, and some basic encryption are a few ways you can keep your information safe on internet-connected servers.

Contrary to what some people believe, digital information is far more secure than paper. The common misconception that paper is more secure or reliable than digital is probably a left-over from a time when that was in fact true or based on the intuitive feeling of certainty and solidity that physical documents provide. Either way, so long as you take some common-sense steps to protect your data, modern digital storage options offer reliability and security that intuitive feelings of security can’t compete with in practice. You can’t encrypt a paper file, keep it behind a password, or track who’s seen it with metadata. (Learn more about the security and reliability advantages of paper here).

Option 3: Cloud Storage

Mass-storing your files in a server hundreds or even thousands of miles away was once a pipe dream of computer enthusiasts or the exclusive privilege of major corporations and governments. Now, however, with lightning-fast internet speeds available in most of the developed world, and high-capacity digital storage cheaper and more efficient than ever, storing documents online is an option for anyone.

Cloud storage comes with a number of benefits over in-house digital storage. For one, you can save space that local storage would’ve used instead. Depending on the size of your organization and its I.T. team, cloud storage is probably also more reliable than in-house storage. Every computer system has issues now and then, but using a cloud storage provider’s servers means outsourcing the monitoring and maintenance to them.

Companies offering cloud storage services need to maintain reliability and security to sustain their profits, so you can be sure that much of their revenue is being reinvested into industry-leading digital security measures. Cloud storage is also more convenient than in-house digital storage, as you can access your files from any computer, including when you’re out of the office. In fact, this convenience is what made entirely remote business models possible, and was a key part of the resilience of economies around the world during the recent COVID-19 lockdowns.

The only potential downsides of cloud storage are dependence on internet speeds and dependence on the service provider. Because all of your information is stored off-site, potentially a very far distance away, disruptions to your internet access mean disruptions to your access to your own files. Additionally, if the service provider experiences a technical crisis or severe disruption, you will have to wait until they are able to resume service, and trust that they backed up your files properly.

But you should consider how likely these problems are. Internet speeds are faster and more reliable than ever before, so unless your organization is based somewhere with poor digital infrastructure, disruptions will be rare and short. Service providers, on the other hand, have huge financial incentives to maintain reliable storage, so they’re likely to take many precautions with your data.

Additionally, due to the market centralization of the internet (i.e. Anyone from anywhere can access the biggest providers), the mainstream options for cloud storage generate huge amounts of revenue, giving them access to cutting-edge technology and personnel to ensure that they never run into problems that could disrupt services. So not only is the protection of your files their primary business incentive, but they’re also likely to be more able to protect your files than you are.

Option 4: Air-Gapped Storage

The security options for in-house or cloud storage are typically good enough to cover most organizations’ needs. But what if your information is especially sensitive, or what if your organization is an especially likely target for cybercriminals? The most secure digital storage option is “air-gapped” storage, in which a dedicated server system is completely isolated from the internet. Secure removable storage devices, like external hard drives or thumb drives, are used to ferry files onto and off the isolated server, and only by trusted members of your organization. With no possible way to connect to the internet, there’s zero risk of online cyber threats, giving you the maximum possible peace of mind about the files you keep there.

Air-gapped storage is ideal for archiving old records that you don’t need to move often, and that you need to keep as secure as possible. It is not the best option, however, for any files that you need to share or use often (unless you’re okay with using the files on a computer which is also disconnected from the internet).

Learn more about air-gapped servers and digital information security here.

Leverage the Advantages of Digital

Digital information systems are far superior to physical files. Digitalized systems and processes are faster, more efficient, more secure, and more flexible than any process still dependent on paper. Digital documents are the best way to store information, as the efficiency of digital storage systems can hold the equivalent of millions of pages of paper in a space no bigger than a deck of cards.

Consentia offers flexible, custom-tailored, local paper scanning solutions for any volume of files. Accelerate your information processing with digital systems, without having to send your important files out of Alberta. We never take risks with the security of our clients’ files, which is why our secure facility utilizes an air-gapped server to store your new digital copies. Get in touch with us today to discover how we can help.

July 21, 2022

Privacy Trends 2022: The Age of Personal Information Privacy

Integrating digital systems into our societies has led to huge benefits in the efficiency, capacity, and complexity of our information systems. But it doesn’t just provide solutions, it also creates new problems that need to be addressed. Here are some examples:

- We are able to engage with friends and colleagues remotely through free online tools like video conferencing and social media platforms, but…
  - - …the information we put on these sites is used or sold for various purposes, usually without our knowledge, and is often poorly secured.

- Online shopping saves consumers time and makes it easier to compare products, but…
  - - …it also centralizes sales through just one or a few platforms, allowing those companies an outsized influence over what products consumers can see, and giving them detailed information about each consumer’s purchasing habits.

- Search engines have made it far easier to find information and learn, but…
  - - …they also track individuals’ inquiries, giving those companies detailed information about their users’ interests and lives.

From one perspective, these privacy tradeoffs are just the price of using such valuable and helpful tools. After all, nothing is truly free, and there’s no monetary fee for using most of them. From another perspective, they’re invasions of individuals’ privacy that weren’t communicated to them sufficiently beforehand.

This second perspective seems to have been gaining traction among the public and elected officials in many countries. Privacy protection regulation has been on the rise around the world, and public advocacy for individual privacy online is increasing, with movements like Global Privacy Control gaining more traction.

In this post, we wanted to summarize what some of the experts are saying about the biggest recent and ongoing trends in digital privacy. For more information about the rise of individual privacy and other trends, read on.

Regulation on the Rise

In 2018, the EU began enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation, broad legislation granting individuals more protection and control over their personal data. Since then, around $300 million in fines have been paid for violations of its rules, and more than 60 countries have proposed or enacted their own privacy regulations, including major and emerging economies like China, Russia, Brazil, and Australia. Gartner Inc., a leading research and consulting firm in the US, projects that “[b]y year-end 2024…75% of the world’s population will have its personal data covered under modern privacy regulations.”

In the US, currently, no individual privacy protection legislation exists at the federal level. However, three states (Colorado, Virginia, and California) have already enacted individual privacy regulations, and more are expected to follow suit in the near future.

Here in Canada, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, a.k.a. Bill C-27, was recently introduced to the house of commons and is currently in deliberation. Bill C-27 would enact three new pieces of legislation (CPPA, AIDA, and PIDPTA), which together would replace and expand on existing privacy regulations (i.e. PIPEDA) and break new ground in regulating AI systems.

Public Privacy-Consciousness

Since the dawn of the internet, a small, technically adept set of users have been highly privacy-conscious, advocating for systems and regulations that would make internet spaces safer and fairer for individuals. Recently, however, this opinion is starting to become more commonplace. A number of major data breach scandals raised concerns about the ability and willingness of large organizations like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google to protect the massive caches of user data they so eagerly accumulate.

According to the sources we reviewed, individual members of the public are becoming more concerned about the safety and control over their data. One study revealed that 84% of consumers polled say that they “…care about data privacy,” 80% said that they’re “…willing to spend time and money to protect [their] data,” and 48% said that they “…have switched companies or providers over their data policies…”

This rising concern exerts market pressure on companies to be more transparent and ethical about their data handling procedures if they want to attract new users to their platforms. Global Privacy Controls (GPC) is a movement that has been gathering support in the US and around the world, with backing from several legislators and privacy advocates. At present, their agenda seems to be limited to advocacy and a web browser plugin that notifies websites about individuals’ privacy preferences. As support grows, however, it’s reasonable to expect more legislators and lobbyists to get on board, and the movement could turn into a significant force for pushing consumer privacy regulation.

While it is logical to link the rise in the public’s privacy consciousness with the recent increase in privacy-focused regulations around the world, it’s important to remember that correlation ≠ causation. The rise in public awareness motivates elected officials in liberal and illiberal societies alike to appease their constituents’ wishes, but new legislation also makes headlines and further increases public awareness. Various scandals and data breaches also make headlines and raise awareness, but primarily only get attention from those who are already interested in data privacy.

What to Expect

Whatever the causation behind the rise in public concern and official regulation in consumer privacy protection, this shift will have, and has already had some notable effects:

1. Times are tough for business models based on user data: Increasing regulatory pressure against invasive or insecure use of user data means some methods and technologies will have to be ditched, and new compromises will have to be implemented. But if organizations play their cards right, they can come out on the other side with more efficient and more ethical business models than ever before. Here are some of the key innovations currently offering solutions to data-driven organizations:
  1. 1. Zero & First-Party data, and other cookie-less solutions: data-driven business models rely on information about individuals’ preferences and interests. Some companies are switching away from invasive cookies and other third-party sources, to simply asking consumers what their preferences are (first-party info) or using the information they’ve already volunteered as part of a transaction (zero-party info). Not only is this fairer to the individual user, but it’s also more reliable information.
  1. 1. Complex Encryption Methods: New innovations in encryption allow systems to perform computations on encrypted data sets without having to decrypt them first. This means that encrypted data can be incorporated, modified, and stored without giving the systems or organizations performing those operations on it access to the contents.
  1. 1. Differential Privacy & Clean Rooms: Differential privacy just means sharing information about a data set, without actually sharing the contents. Automated differential privacy systems are able to abstract trends and themes from a data set but won’t allow access to the individual pieces of information. “Clean rooms” are digital platforms built for this purpose. This compromise allows data-driven business models to continue, without compromising the privacy of individuals.
  1. 1. Centralized & Automated Privacy User Experiences: one of the most notable features of legislation like the EU’s GDPR is the provision for individuals to request information about the way their data is used by a company, and the ability to request that it be deleted. These “data subject requests” (in the language of the GDPR) could become very time-consuming if processed manually, especially as individuals become more interested. To cost-effectively process large volumes of data subject requests, companies in the affected jurisdictions will need to develop automated processing systems. In addition to other privacy mandates becoming law, it makes sense for companies to create centralized user portals for handling their privacy settings.

1. It’s a good time to work in Privacy: with the increased investment and demand for privacy solutions created by tightening regulations, expect jobs for qualified professionals in the field to be plentiful and lucrative.

1. A mixed bag for AI: On the one hand, AI solutions for information processing and analytics automation offer a win-win compromise for data-driven businesses and individuals alike: businesses get to generate and use valuable analytics without having to see individual users’ information. On the other hand, AI has been shown to be a security liability: Gartner found that 40% of organizations surveyed had an AI-related privacy breach, and that only a quarter of these breaches were instigated by external bad actors. In an age of ever-increasing public concern for individuals’ information security, these kinds of breaches are bad for organizations’ reputations. The future of AI systems in a more privacy-focused world will likely depend more on the ability of their creators to keep them secure than on the potential benefits they can offer.