Artificial Intelligence and your paper shredder.

P

Packard

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2020
Messages
4,754
I read about Artificial Intelligence unraveling the meaning of some ancient scrolls from 79 A.D.  It was something that archeologists had been working on for years.

So my thoughts went to the refuse bin in my cross cut paper shredder.  I shred all my bank documents when I am done with them and all items that have my SS # or bank checking number.

Could someone photograph or scan all the pieces in my shredder bin and feed those images to A.I. and reconstruct those sheets to their original condition.

Before I had my shredder, I would tear the important numbers in pieces and toss them in separate trash cans. But with the shredded sheets, I would not know which bits to separate.

I think I will have to get a burn bag.
 
In the late 1970's when our embassy was under attack in Iran, the people inside the embassy were busy shredding and burning files.  When the embassy fell the new regime had children go through the shreds that were not burned and try to line them up to recreate the destroyed papers.  They were looking for lists of informers, etc and by recreating the shredded papers they found them.  That is the reason that newer shredders do a crosscut in addition to the ribbon shredding. 

Hopefully you have a cross cutting shredder that makes it into confetti.  If it is just a ribbon cutter, I would not trust it.  Or you could shred and burn.  Or shred and make paper-mache out of it. 

 
The crosscut shredders where I used to work as so good that the output cannot be recycled and has to go to the landfill.  The paper fibers are cut so small that they cannot be used for pulp.
 
Yardbird said:
In the late 1970's when our embassy was under attack in Iran, the people inside the embassy were busy shredding and burning files.  When the embassy fell the new regime had children go through the shreds that were not burned and try to line them up to recreate the destroyed papers.  They were looking for lists of informers, etc and by recreating the shredded papers they found them.  That is the reason that newer shredders do a crosscut in addition to the ribbon shredding. 

Hopefully you have a cross cutting shredder that makes it into confetti.  If it is just a ribbon cutter, I would not trust it.  Or you could shred and burn.  Or shred and make paper-mache out of it.
Click to expand...

My shredder makes little squares about 1/4” x 1/4”.  I am not really worried about someone coming for me and my shredded paper.  This was more in the line of “I was wondering…”

The story I heard was that the strips of paper were given to some Afghan rug weavers.  Apparently the work has some similarity to assembling the ribbons. 

All those stories sound apocryphal to me.  Probably all bullsh*t. 

I once wondered if shredded paper could be used as a fire accelerant.  It would not leave the chemical signature.  Add some saw dust and it might cause an explosion. 

(I only use my brilliance for good; never for evil.)  [big grin]
 
Be careful about burning papers in the fireplace. Years ago a house down the street from one of my projects suffered extensive fire damage, apparently they had bought a new home and were burning old paperwork in the fireplace of the home they had for sale. Well, the paper scraps floated up out of the chimney and landed on the Cedar shake roof, setting it on fire. Extensive fire damage, never mind the water damage I'm sure incurred in every room due to putting out the roof fire.

Worst part was, apparently they had already transferred their homeowner's insurance policy to the new home, but hadn't closed on the sale of their old home so the loss was not insured. Pretty sure the house sat vacant the rest of the Summer....
 
Here is a scholarly article about reconstructing shredded documents.
https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/imurray2/projects/2013_razvan_ranca_ug4.pdf

Interestingly, in the introduction it says that it is unclear what level of security a paper shredder still offers.

And this document is ancient (2013). 

I am thinking that dividing the important numbers into separate recepticals..

For example this fictitious credit card number:  4239 475333 19009.

Shredding that entire number would no longer be a secure method.  Cutting the card in half and shredding half into once trash bag and the other half in another bag would add a good deal to the security.  Especially if they are not put in the dumpster on the same day.

So on Monday I would shred and dispose of:  4239 475

And the following Monday, I would shred and dispose of: 333 19009

 
Packard said:
Here is a scholarly article about reconstructing shredded documents.
https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/imurray2/projects/2013_razvan_ranca_ug4.pdf

Interestingly, in the introduction it says that it is unclear what level of security a paper shredder still offers.

And this document is ancient (2013). 

I am thinking that dividing the important numbers into separate recepticals..

For example this fictitious credit card number:  4239 475333 19009.

Shredding that entire number would no longer be a secure method.  Cutting the card in half and shredding half into once trash bag and the other half in another bag would add a good deal to the security.  Especially if they are not put in the dumpster on the same day.

So on Monday I would shred and dispose of:  4239 475

And the following Monday, I would shred and dispose of: 333 19009
Click to expand...

I used to do this.

Now we just collect everything that we want to shred and take it to a local bank's "community shred day" event where the documents are all fed into industrial / commercial shredders.  I'll just have to trust it's not getting immediately turned over to people with nefarious motives.

I may some day sign up for a payment service like Apple Pay or another that obscures your credit card number with a one-time value that can't be reused.  Eventually I think that's where things like that will end up.  I've already moved to a password/user manager so that I can stop recycling usernames across various platforms, I just haven't cleaned all of them up yet.
 
That community thing is your protection.

A coupe of frinds and I were having a fanciful conversation on how to get away with a crime.

One suggested that DNA will get you every time.

I said, just go to the dumpster behind any barbershop or hair salon and retrieve several bags of hair sweepings.

After your malfeasance, scatter the several bags of hair all over the crime scene.  The CSI lab would be buried in DNA.

The same concept with the community shredding.  If someone retrieves the shredding, there will be too much spread over too many for them to make anything of it.

 
I save mine and burn them later. It used to be easy, we had a 55 gallon drum out back, when I was kid.
Not so much anymore. You try that in the city and the FD boys will be hosing you down right quick.
I think there is even a fine too. They issue what it effectively a ticket and you have to pay the city.

Funny thing is though, they allow those commercially available little chimnea things....on your deck  [eek]
Somehow that's not as offensive is a barrel?
Heck, people used to burn leaves in a pile every fall, right in the back yard. Today someone would cry about the carbon footprint, rather than the fire spreading hazard.  [blink]
 
I’m thinking that after the cross cut shredder, soaking it in water would do the trick. Or putting it in my rice steamer. 

In either case it would be rendered to pulp, and ready to calendar out into fresh new paper. 

I do wonder how dangerous it is to store large quantities of shredded paper.  It would go up in flames almost as fast as if there were gasoline on the floor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top