US Department of Veterans Affairs Mandates NAID Certification

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The VA issued a new directive regarding records destruction late last year, which further confirms the growing acceptance of the program within government and industry.

VA Directive 6371 “establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) policy to ensure that PII (personally-identifiable information) of all individuals, including veterans, dependents, and employees, and other sensitive information that is contained in temporary paper records is properly disposed of.”

Here is what the new VA directive says about NAID Certification as lifted verbatim from the document…

“If interim destruction is not carried out by VA employees, it must be carried out by a National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certified, bonded, and insured contractor who has contracted to provide sufficient reasonable safeguards to protect the records until final destruction has been completed.”

 And about contracts, the directive says …

“At a minimum, these contracts shall require documentation that any contractor who will handle the records until final destruction is completed is bonded, insured, NAID certified for paper/printed media destruction, and can provide reasonable physical safeguards for the data throughout the destruction process.”