What to Shred

For your security, it is important to shred documents with confidential information. The Attorney General's Office recommends shredding all documents with the following information:

• Account numbers
• Birth dates
• Passwords
• PINs
• Signatures
• Social security numbers

For your safety and privacy, consider shredding:

• Address labels from junk mail and magazines
• ATM receipts
• Bank statements
• Birth certificate copies
• Canceled and voided checks
• Credit and charge card bills, carbon copies, summaries and receipts
• Credit reports and histories
• Employee pay stubs
• Employment records
• Expired credit and identification cards including driver’s licenses, college IDs, military IDs, employee badges, medical insurance cards, etc. (If your shredder can’t handle plastic, cut up cards with a scissors before discarding them.)
• Expired passports and visas
• Legal documents
• Insurance documents
• Investment, stock and property transactions
• Luggage tags
• Medical and dental records
• Papers with a Social Security number
• Pre-approved credit card applications
• Receipts with checking account numbers
• Report cards
• Resumés or curriculum vitae
• Signatures (such as those found on leases, contracts, letters)
• Tax forms
• Transcripts
• Travel itineraries
• Used airline tickets
• Utility bills (telephone, gas, electric, water, cable TV, Internet)