Keeping Your Postal Mail Safe and Secure: A Look Into Our Security Practices

The security of your postal mail is crucial. A few pieces of paper can hold significant amounts of private information and personal data. That’s why security and privacy are vital to the operation of any digital mail provider. At Earth Class Mail, keeping your postal mail safe and secure is our number one priority.

For many of our customers, accessing postal mail online is a new concept, so it’s not surprising that many of you have questions about security. However, using Earth Class Mail to access your postal mail online actually has some security advantages over relying on a physical mailbox. From monitoring our processing facilities to the privacy of a virtual address, our products are designed with the security of your confidential information in mind.

Every step of the process protects your confidential information

How we physically handle your postal mail is a major part of securing your confidential information. We start with a high bar for hiring and training our technicians, and follow that up with strict requirements for our facility and handling processes. Thanks to these measures, we are able to safely digitize postal for thousands of customers.

Thorough employee requirements

Every member of the Earth Class Mail team must pass a thorough background check and complete an intensive security training.

In fact, many of our largest customers are law firms, healthcare organizations, and other companies that handle confidential information on-behalf of their employees. These companies trust us with their postal mail because they know we maintain the highest standard of security and privacy.

Secure facilities and item tracking

Your postal mail is collected at an Earth Class Mail address from across the United States, and routed to our secure processing center in Beaverton, Oregon. The center is access-restricted and monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cameras are also placed throughout the building and all visitors are logged and escorted throughout the facility.

All envelopes or packages are assigned a unique number to track and log that item through its lifecycle. Every staff member has an individual login, and every item is logged to show when and where it was processed. Your documents are always secure because we keep a thorough record of how every piece of postal mail moves through our facilities.

Digitizing your postal mail

When you receive a piece of postal mail, it goes through a process called induction. Induction involves scanning the envelope and uploading an image of it into the cloud. That image is then imported into your account dashboard. From your dashboard, you have the option to scan the contents of the envelope, deposit any detected checks, or ship, shred, and store anything you’d like.

We often get questions about the actual digitization process. Your postal mail is only unsealed when you request that the contents of an envelope be scanned. After digitization is complete, the envelope and its contents are immediately placed in a new, sealed envelope. Our system for digitization is designed to process your postal mail securely and efficiently, and only exposes an envelope’s contents for the few seconds it takes to complete the process.

Partnering with the USPS

In order for us to legally receive your postal mail on your behalf, we are registered with the USPS as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA). All new customers must complete a notarized 1583 form in order to begin using our services. Filling out a 1583 form gives us permission to accept and open your postal mail on your behalf as your designated CMRA. This process also ensures that we verify the identity of all new customers.

These thorough security and oversight measures ensure that your private information is protected every step of the way.

Protecting you from the vulnerabilities of physical mailboxes

Relying solely on a physical mailbox can leave you susceptible to identity theft. In fact, last year, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) reported 2,076 mail-theft related convictions.

Identity theft specialists advise people to check their postal mail daily and even put a lock on their mailbox to make sure that their identifying information is safe from theft. They also recommend shredding documents that have any identifying information and storing important documents (like tax returns, medical documents, paystubs, etc.) in a locked storage box.

Storing physical documents without protection can also put you at risk for loss through catastrophic events, like fire or flood. The last thing anyone wants to deal with in the midst of a crisis is trying to figure out what sensitive paperwork has been destroyed.

Using Earth Class Mail as your digital postal mail provider means you can protect yourself from many of these risks. We offer all of these services without you ever having to touch an envelope. We can also securely shred your postal mail after it’s digitized and uploaded into the cloud, so you won’t be left vulnerable to identity theft.

Conclusion

We know how important it is to keep your important documents safe and confidential. From securing our facilities to requiring extensive training for employees, we have designed our process to protect your postal mail at every step of the way. Outside of our thorough security practices, your Earth Class Mail account brings you a number of advantages over relying solely on a physical mailbox.