The following are definitions of industry words or terms also used in the i-SIGMA Certification Programs.

• ACCESS INDIVIDUALS – Individuals who, in their capacity as an agent of the Applicant, have access to, or the capacity to grant or authorize access to the Confidential Customer Media, including but not limited to 1) employees, 2) agents of “sub-contractors” as defined herein, and/or 3) others providing any type of services to the Applicant that necessitates access to any area in which Confidential Customer Media is accessible. NOTE: Access Individuals do not include “Visitors,” as defined herein, who must be under the direct supervision of an Access Individual while in the presence of Confidential Customer Media.
• AETP (originally known as the Access Employee Training Program) – A computer-based employee training module that provides one option for comply with the Certification employee training requirements. The AETP is intended to familiarize Access Individuals of i-SIGMA Members with their responsibilities under i-SIGMA Certifications, as well as data protection and privacy regulations.
• BRANCH/LOCATION – Any facility or place operated by an Applicant where 1) Confidential Customer Media is destroyed; or 2) stand-alone support is provided for Mobile/Onsite Operations.
• BIN TIP –The process of servicing a collection bin or exchanging bins containing Confidential Customer Media to be destroyed.
• COLLECTION FACILITY – A facility separate from a secure destruction facility where Confidential Customer Media is stored exactly as accepted from a customer, with no further modification of packaging and no access or processing by staff after collection. Confidential Customer Media for destruction may not be stored for a period longer than 3 business days before being transferred to a secure destruction facility.

  If Confidential Customer Media is stored in a facility longer than three business days, the facility is classified as a Transfer Processing Station (see definition and application criteria for details).

  In the event that the Applicant location maintains its own commercial records storage center, and stores/stages Confidential Customer Media generated for destruction from that facility exclusively, the facility is NOT considered a Collection Facility. However, if a records storage center is also used to store Confidential Customer Media on an intermediary basis while in transit from customer location to a separate destruction facility, it is then classified as a Collection Facility.

  A Collection Facility must meet all Operational Security requirements (see section 2 in the criteria) as a destruction facility with the exception of a CCTV monitoring and recording system.

• COMPUTER HARD DRIVES (or Hard Drives) – The memory storage device consisting of a rotating metal platter using magnetic charge to store digital code. Excludes microchips, microprocessors or storage devices typically found in PDAs, cell phones, or USB storage devices.
• CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT – An Agreement in which all Access Individuals acknowledge they will keep any customer media and information secure and confidential. A Confidentiality Agreement having concepts substantially similar to the sample document available to all i-SIGMA members must be signed by all Access Individuals and Non-Access Employees, and the Agreement must be kept on file by the Applicant.

  Where it is not practical to have such an Agreement directly with an individual, a letter from the Subcontractor, verifying that such an Agreement has been executed by any of their agents intended to serve in the same capacity as an Access Individual would be acceptable.

• CONFIDENTIAL CUSTOMER MEDIA – Documents, papers, records, or other media received by the Applicant from customers for destruction.
• DATA CONTROLLER – An organization that collects Data Subjects’ Personal Information in order to provide some service, e.g., banks, hospitals, insurance companies, employers.
• DATA PROCESSOR – A service provider or other organization with which a Data Controller shares or allows access to Data Subjects’ Personal Information in order to perform some subset of services for the Data Controller, e.g., data destruction, IT asset management, records storage, data backup, managed service provider.
• DATA SUBJECT – An individual who is the subject of personal information about themselves.
• DEGAUSSING – Use of a strong magnetic field to erase information recorded on Magnetic Media, such as conventional hard drives.
• EMPLOYMENT HISTORY VERIFICATION – A verification of all prior employment held by an Access Individual of the Applicant over the past 7 years; the verification may be conducted internally or outsourced, at the discretion of the Applicant.
• MAGNETIC MEDIA – Storage devices that use patterns of magnetization to imprint data on plastic or metal that has been coated with iron oxide. Examples include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes and floppy disks.
• MEDIA – Any information-bearing medium, including but not limited to paper, microfilm, microfiche, X-rays, ID badges, credit/debit cards, computer hard drives, magnetic or digital tapes, disks or cartridges.
• MEDIA VAULT – A segregated, secure room or area possessing special environmental controls need to store film and tape media.
• MICRO MEDIA – Microfiche and Microfilm
• MOBILE/ONSITE OPERATION – Secure destruction activities carried out using mobile commercial-grade destruction equipment that destroys Confidential Customer Media within an enclosed and securable vehicle (truck or trailer) at the customer’s site.
• NON-ACCESS EMPLOYEES – Employees of the Applicant who a) are restricted from access to secure destruction areas and other areas where Confidential Customer Media is accessible; or b) have not been through, or cannot be fully vetted for, the Certification employee screening requirements. These employees must be accompanied, supervised, or escorted by an Access Employee at all times when in presence of Confidential Customer Media to be destroyed. See also: Visitors.
• NON-CITIZEN ACCESS INDIVIDUAL – Employees and other agents of the Applicant who are not citizens of the country in which the Applicant location is operated.
• NON-PAPER MEDIA – Optical Media (Digital Video Disks, Compact Disks). Floppy Disks.
• OPTICAL MEDIA – Digital electronic storage devices that use laser technology to write and read data. Examples include, but are not limited to, CDs, DVDs, CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs.
• OVERWRITING – The commonly used term to describe the process of recording meaningless information on magnetic or solid-state media as method of eliminating meaningful information.
• PAPER OR PRINTED MEDIA – Information printed on paper or other material that can be read by the naked eye without the assistance of a special device, such as documents, ID badges, credit/debit cards and photos. FACILITY-BASED OPERATION – Secure destruction activities—including the staging, destruction, baling, and storage of destroyed materials—housed within a secure building environment and executed using fixed-location commercial-grade destruction equipment.
• PRODUCT DESTRUCTION – The destruction of non-information bearing items, including but not limited to contraband, product overruns, returned items (defective or useable), counterfeit items, clothing, publications, or anything which the product owner deems harmful if not definitively destroyed in a controlled and secure manner.
• PURGE – An information destruction project that is defined by the Applicant and/or client as an inordinately large amount of Confidential Customer Media to be destroyed.
• SOLID STATE DEVICES (SSDs) – Data storage device where information is recorded via an electric charge. Such as Flash Media: SIMS cards, USB storage devices, PDAs and cell phones, tablets, etc.
• SERVICE VEHICLE – Any vehicle operating on public streets that provides collection, delivery or processing of Customer Confidential Media.
• SUBCONTRACTOR – Any entity the Applicant uses to provide services that are an integral part of the Applicant’s destruction service and whose employees or agents have access to Confidential Customer Media to be destroyed. Examples include providers of temporary staffing, transportation, etc. Use of another destruction Applicant for remote locations, projects, or other special circumstances must be represented to the Applicant’s clients as NOT Certified, unless such Applicant is currently Certified for the work being performed. These service providers do not need to be submitted as Subcontractors.
• TRANSFER PROCESSING STATION (or TPS) – A facility without destruction capability, and where Confidential Customer Media destined for a destruction facility is batched, sorted, cleaned or repackaged within the facility; or a facility where Confidential Customer Media is stored for more than three business days while in route to a destruction facility.
  A Transfer Processing Station must meet all the same Operational Security requirements as a destruction facility (see Application).
• VISITORS – Any person who may enter the secure destruction area/facility (with or without Confidential Customer Media for destruction) and who is: a) not employed by the Applicant; b) working as (or for) an independent contractor for the Applicant; c) otherwise providing services to the Applicant for compensation; and/or 4) an employee from another division or Applicant location who has not met all of the Certification Employee Screening requirements and is not wearing a Photo ID badge; is considered a Visitor. All Visitors must sign an Applicant-maintained Visitor log, receive a Visitor badge, and remain under the supervision of an Access Individual at all times while in the secure destruction building, or area with Confidential Customer Media for destruction. This includes, but is not limited to, current or prospective clients, service providers such as vending machine distributors, mechanics, or technicians; employees as noted above.

For more information regarding these or other industry terms, please contact i-SIGMA staff.