Ink can not only be removed, but can be viewed at different wavelengths of light. So this isn't going to beat a determined person.

@Vandelay Import Export:

No, but it will help remove those unsightly dollars from your pocket book.

@Vandelay Import Export:

::make mental note:: Shred all important documents around vandelay import export.

ID theft is a crime of opportunity, just like most other crimes. If the info isn't easily viewed, they'll probably just pass on.

Still, I'd take a more proactive approach. Use a permanent pen to black out very sensitive info, cross cut shred the document, then scatter the confetti through 4 or 5 trash cans.

Although, a Samurai Kitten stamp would work better AND improve the odds of being listed in Consumerist's Best Posts of the Week.

@Xerloq: burning and mixing confetti with used kitty litter is also an option [one OR the other, please]

@gStein: We tear the address and any other bits that matter out and put them in the compost. The rest gets recyled in the ordinary way. Frankly, anyone who can be arsed to get into our back garden and sort through the compost heap probably deserves what they find.

@Xerloq: Often time I need to discard of personalally identifiable information (PII) at work (or turn in receipts for work related expenses that still have the full CC number or other information listed on the receipt)

I found that using a sharpie marker or a ball point pen still would allow a very determined person to read the credit card numbers. What I now do is take a black pen, a blue pen and a red pen. with the black pen I make a series of diagonal slashes "/" across the information I am trying to cover up. I then take the red pen and do the same thing, but make the slashes in the other direction "\". With the blue pen, I make a series of circular scribbles across the information.

By doing this, you remove any indentations or raised areas from the printing process, and you cover up any reflections that would allow you to view the receipt at a different angle and read the infromation. The different colors help you distinguish where you have covered the personal information, but act as sort of a camoglage for the ink that was used for the PII, it becomes very difficult to distinguish whether the ink that you see is actual information or part of the "cover-up". The different angles help to cover up the information as most letters and numbers are made with "\", "/" or "o" shapes.

@Trai_Dep: I vote for this option.

Are there places you can bring a bag of personal paper stuff that can pulverize it well and relatively cheaply?

My shredder is a real pain in the ass to use...

this is a very quick tool for obscuring non-critical personal info. It would be handy.

It not only slightly more convenient and significantly more expensive than a wide tip permanent marker though.

By "personal info" here, we mean "readily available home address"?

@Vandelay Import Export: Exactly the comment I was going to make.

Ink stamps like this are easily defeated by using simple lighting tools.

Security through obscurity is not security.

My old university(1990) used SSNs as student IDs, and we had them written in our texts along with our names. What I would do was go back with a ball point pen and scribble over it to obscure the groove that would be visible, THEN go over it slowly with a sharpie and let the ink soak in.

I did have the SSNs of a couple of pro football players in some of my used texts.

Our SSNs were stamped onto the library checkout cards in each library book. No names, but all valid SSNs that anyone could walk in and find on the shelves. Our rec center didn't have card readers at every entrance, so they would have a full printout of all 7000+ current students with names and SSNs so they could check your ID when you went in. More than once I walked by unattended printouts sitting in the open.

@Xerloq: Just shoot the first 4 or 5 people that get within about 50 yards of your trash can and leave the bodies. Eventually those damned ID thieves will get the idea and stay away from your trash can. So will the trash service, but that's a whole 'nother barrel of worms.

Fun, maybe. Useful, not really. The obscured print can still be detected and recovered, with nothing much more sophisticated than a flashlight.

Security through obscurity is not security.

The better way to dispose of documents is to shred into confetti or powder, then thoroughly incinerate the shreds.

@Shoelace: I forked out a little over $100 for a Royal 1200mx confetti cut shredder. It's worth the money - 12 sheet capacity, does CDs and credit cards as well.

@Shoelace: You could join the CIA and sneak your documents into their destroy bins. Their methods of destruction with regard to documents basically grind the paper into tiny pieces of dust.

@Rachacha: Why wouldn't you just get a shredder? Seems like it would save you tons of manual labor and be far more secure.

@Vandelay Import Export: I've grown up in such a sheltered city in Ontario that all this security stuff feels like such paranoia. Paper shredders? Wow.. come on.

But now I'm starting to think that maybe this stuff actually does happen in some regions.

I still passive aggressively recycle my unopened credit card bills ;)

@Xerloq: The 5 trash cans thing is the paranoia I mentioned in the above thread :P

@DrKai: Yeah I got some ativa shredder my old work gave me when they went bankrupt. Its a 800 dollar shredder and if they want to work through that then they earned any info they can piece together from the documents.

Usually envelopes and letters are done on a laser printer. As permanent as ink is, it will usually run a little in water, and I'm sure if you ran a gentle trickle over, you could probably run enough off to be able to read this.

As for my papers? I collect them for about 2-3 months in a box/feed bag by the door, then go through each piece to make sure it's not a catalog w/an envelope inside by accident, then I take the whole shebang and drop it in a 55-gallon drum and burn, baby, burn.

@LastError: That is only true assuming that you have a determined thief on your trail. Most people do not have those.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Hey! dont burst the bubble.

Worthless if it uses the wrong kind of ink. I enjoyed demonstrating just how useless using a marker to erase an address was by showing how I could easily read it by passing it under the IR-vision counterfeit detector. It was almost like the marker wasn't even there.

This isn't exactly high-tech spying equipment, this is the equipment your average teenager working in a fast food joint in a bad area has unlimited access to.

Now, if it uses the exact same ink as the publisher (how could it? Some of them use toner, which you can't stamp on!) it might work.

@Shoelace: In our area, there's often "Community Shredding Events". We save up our shredding in a box, and every six months or so, we swing by one of these events and they do all the shredding at once. It's a big industrial shredding truck, so it takes 30 seconds or less to do the whole box, as opposed to the 4-5 hours it would take us to hand feed all of it through our shredder, and we don't have to worry about staples jamming it. It's usually done at places like banks or office supply stores.

Here's the list for our state of some of the upcoming events: [www.shreditct.com]

@Shoelace:

Yep, it's called a bucket + water. Dump the stuff in there, let it dissolve for a few days, mix it up, then drain off the water, and dump the refuse in the recycle bin once it's dry. Or, you could compress the refuse really tight, let it dry like that, and see if it makes a good firelog (probably not, but hey, it's free!).

If it isn't dissolving well (What are you destroying? Glossy magazines?) you could try adding some lye or muriatic acid to the mix (NEVER both, EVER), assuming it won't eat through your bucket. Of course, if you do this, you'll not be able to recycle what's left, and it'll probably be a pain in the ass to dispose of.

@Ragman: I remember those days as well, when your SSN was just a number and not a precious secret that requires the killing of anyone who might learn it.

@Mackinstyle:

You'd enjoy the show "Masterminds", specifically the one on the Ontario man that managed to actually devalue Canadian currency by making "perfect" counterfeits.

We aren't immune to fraud, and anyone that can create a perfect counterfeit note can wash a cheque.

@shepd:

Or you can toss the stuff you want to destroy into a pair of pantyhose. Tie it off and throw it in the washing machine. The throw the whole lot out.

Okay for low-security items, and certainly better than just throwing something away without doing anything. Not a high-security solution or alternative to shredding.

Has anyone tried to see how it works on outgoing mail? I can just see some postal worker asking "Hey, Joe, can you read this for me?"

@DrKai: Because when you need to turn in a receipt for reimbursement to the accounting department you can't very well hand them a pile of shreded paper and expect them to cut you a check :-)

It is a rarity that I need to discard of receipts when I am away from home and can shred it, but the trick works in a pinch.

@Shoelace: you could always use the techniques for recycling paper that people who make their own paper at home use.
water and a blender
it helps to have a dedicated blender. you don't want to put food in there later.
and you have to remove all the plastic windows on those credit card offers

@corinthos: I wonder how much of a match your $800 shredder would be against this software that starts for less than $100.

@Ragman: I remember they finally changed it in 2004 thanks to legislation. The registrar was proud of itself for "protecting our information". I was like...yeah you guys didn't think this was a possible problem before the legislation? The kind of thing that jumps out at you during orientation...

@mianne: Since it doesn't seem to do cross-cut shredding, I'd guess an $800 shredder would render the software pretty useless.

@mianne: The testimonial on that website:

"Thank god! Unshredder changed the way we reconstructing our documents and our capabilities in this space. Best purchase I have done for some time.... Highly recommended!"

Nathan,
Alabama US

This is either evidence that this program is garbage, evidence that you should not live in Alabama, or both.

@corinthos: im sorry, im going to have to call BS on the 800$ pricetag. I work at officedepot (i know, i know) and we sell ativa. In fact, ativa being an office depot brand, only we sell ativa. there isnt, and wasnt, an ativa shredder even close to 800.

the MOST ive seen one is like 5-600. they have some new ones now, but they certainly arent 800

@Vandelay Import Export: Locks keep honest people out. Stuff like this serves best to slow criminals down and therefore make them inclined to skip you and go to the next target.