All confidential material, such as personal information about identifiable individuals or anything classified as Restricted or higher, must be protected from unauthorised access and disclosure throughout its lifecycle, including disposing of it securely. Failure to protect such information may result in significant financial and reputational damage to the University.
Disposal of data in paper records
The University's confidential paper shredding and disposal service is provided by Restore Datashred and centrally managed by the Information Governance Office.
There are Restore consoles in most University buildings that are collected on a regular schedule. Please use Restore consoles to dispose of confidential paper in preference to individual shredders. All colleagues can use any Restore console.
If you would like to check the schedule for a console, or you’re concerned that collections are being missed, or your area does not have access to a convenient Restore console, please contact the Records Management team in the IGO via records.management@manchester.ac.uk.
If you require a one-off collection of material to be shredded, you can make arrangements directly with Restore for the delivery and collection of confidential waste sacks or for the ad hoc collection of full consoles. To do this:
1. Make a note of the request you need to make on Confidential waste requests.xlsx (columns A-G). You can find your account code/site ID from the ‘Site IDs’ sheet.
3. Update Confidential waste requests.xlsx with the date agreed with Restore and after they attend. It’s important that we have this log so that we can check orders against invoices.
If you have any other questions relating to the confidential waste service, please contact the Records Management team in the IGO via records.management@manchester.ac.uk.
Please note that the "blue bag" collection by Estates and Facilities does NOT provide a secure disposal route for confidential waste.
Disposal of personal data in electronic form
Electronic storage media that you no longer require can be taken to IT Support for secure destruction. University laptops may be wiped and re-used, whilst other devices (USBs, disks, etc) will be destroyed by a third-party supplier. Items can be taken to the IT Help Desk or a request can be submitted on Connect: Return IT Equipment - Connect.
Information which must not be destroyed
Before disposing of documents, either in paper or on electronic media, please consult the University’s Records Retention Schedule to check whether the documents need to be retained for a defined period.
