Patent Publication Number: US-2023149938-A1

Title: Shredder system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a shredder system. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     There are a number of known conventional technologies related to shredders (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
     Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2020-15027   

     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     Problems to be Solved by the Invention 
     However, the conventional technologies including the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 are insufficient, and it has been difficult to recover information fixed on a medium, which is an object to be shredded, after the medium has been fed into a shredder. 
     The present invention was achieved in consideration of the above-described circumstances and an object thereof is to recover information fixed on a medium that has been fed into a shredder. 
     Means for Solving the Problems 
     In order to achieve the object described above, a shredder system according to an aspect of the present invention includes: 
     an information processing device;
 
a shredder configured to shred a medium having information fixed thereon; and
 
a scanner device,
 
the scanner device being configured to read the information fixed on the medium at a predetermined time before the medium is shredded by the shredder,
 
the information processing device including
 
an information acquisition section configured to acquire the information read by the scanner device and
 
an information management section configured to manage the information acquired by the information acquisition section in a recoverable manner.
 
     Effects of the Invention 
     According to the present invention, it is possible to recover information fixed on a medium that has been fed into a shredder. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating an overview of an example of a present service that can be implemented through a shredder system according to an embodiment of the present invention, versus a conventional service; 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of an example of an external configuration of a shredder in the system configuration of the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  4    is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a server in the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  5    is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the server shown in  FIG.  4   ; and 
         FIG.  6    is a perspective view of an example of an external configuration of a shredder in a system configuration of a shredder system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which differs from  FIG.  2   . 
     
    
    
     PREFERRED MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
     First Embodiment 
     The following describes a first embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. 
     First, referring to  FIG.  1   , the following describes an overview of a service (referred to below as “the present service”) to which a shredder system (see  FIG.  2    described below) according to the present invention is applied. 
       FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating an overview of an example of the present service that can be implemented through a shredder system according to an embodiment of the present invention, versus a conventional service. 
     The present service is, for example, provided to a user K who works in an office or the like and who is in a position to manage a worker H. Specifically, for example, the present service is offered to recover information fixed on a medium P that should not be discarded due to its nature and to provide the recovered information to the user K, in a situation in which the worker H has shredded the medium P using a shredder without permission and the information fixed on the medium P has been destroyed. 
     Conventionally, confidential information is printed or otherwise fixed on a medium P such as paper for use in an office or the like. When the medium P is no longer needed, therefore, a shredder technology is used to shred the medium P, and thus make the confidential information indeterminable in order to prevent a non-related party from determining and appropriating the confidential information fixed on the medium P. The shredder technology allows for protection of privacy and prevention of information leakage by shredding the medium P, but is characterized by the fact that it is extremely difficult to recover the shredded medium P. As such, a shredder is used for the purpose of protecting privacy or preventing information leakage, but not infrequently, is also intentionally used for the purpose of destroying information by someone who does not want the medium P to be recovered. 
     Specifically, in a case where a medium P has printed thereon information about a contract with a client and somehow makes against the worker H (for example, proves the worker&#39;s failure) in an office or the like, the worker H may want to keep the medium P from coming to the attention of the user K, who is his/her supervisor. The following therefore considers a case where the worker H destroys the medium P on purpose. In this case, however, the medium P is treated as do-not-discard, because the medium P contains information about a contract with a client, and is therefore an important document to the office or the like (especially to the user K). For example, assume that the worker H himself/herself has accidentally soiled the medium P. In order to avoid being accused by the user K of soiling the medium P, the worker H attempts to conceal his/her failure by destroying the medium P that proves his/her failure. That is, the worker H shreds the soiled medium P using a shredder that is not capable of information recovery to erase the medium P from existence. As a result of the medium P being thus destroyed, the information printed or otherwise fixed on the medium P is also destroyed. With the conventional technology, the user K has no way to notice that the medium P (i.e., the information fixed on the medium P) has been destroyed by the worker H. The medium P is therefore found to have been destroyed only when someone tries to reuse the information printed on the medium P at a later date, making the problem worse. 
     Furthermore, not infrequently, one can shred a medium P not on purpose but by mistake, although not shown. As mentioned above, the shredder technology is characterized by the fact that it is extremely difficult to recover the shredded medium P. A careful confirmation is therefore necessary as to whether or not it is really all right to discard the medium P before the medium P is fed into a shredder. However, in an office or the like where a large amount of medium are handled, it is complicated and difficult due to time constraints to accurately confirm whether or not it is really all right to discard the medium P each time a medium P is fed into a shredder. It is therefore not uncommon to feed into a shredder a medium P that should be treated as do-not-discard due to its nature and destroy information fixed thereon by mistake. 
     To solve the problems of the conventional technology shown on the left side of  FIG.  1   , the present service shown on the right side of  FIG.  1    makes it possible to recover the information fixed on the medium P even after the medium P has been shredded using a shredder  1 . Specifically, for example, even if the worker H feeds the medium P into the shredder  1  on purpose or by mistake, a series of processes described below is performed. Specifically, the medium P is scanned by a scanner device  11  provided within the shredder  1  before being shredded, and thus the information fixed on the medium P is read. The read information is transmitted to and stored in a server  2 , which is described below with reference to  FIG.  2   . Thus, the information fixed on the medium P that has been fed into the shredder  1  is saved in the server  2  before the medium P is shredded. The medium P is sent to a cutting unit  12  and shredded after the information fixed thereon has been read by the scanner device  11 . The user K searches for and extracts the information of the medium P stored in the server  2  using a supervisor terminal  3 . As described above, the user K can recover the information destroyed as a result of the worker H feeding the medium P into the shredder  1 . 
     In the foregoing, an overview of the present service to which the shredder system according to the present invention is applied has been described with reference to  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  2    is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     The shredder system illustrated in  FIG.  2    includes the shredder  1 , the server  2 , and the supervisor terminal  3 . The shredder  1 , the server  2 , and the supervisor terminal  3  are connected to each other via a predetermined network N such as the Internet. No particular limitations are placed on the form of the network N, and examples of usable networks include Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, a local area network (LAN), and the Internet. 
     The shredder  1  is, for example, installed in an office or the like and is operated by the worker H and others. 
     The server  2  is, for example, an information processing device that is managed by a system administrator (not shown) under the supervision of the user K. The server  2  executes various processes while communicating with the shredder  1  and the supervisor terminal  3  as appropriate. No particular limitations are placed on who performs duties as the system administrator. For example, the user K himself/herself may perform the duties as the system administrator. 
     The supervisor terminal  3  is an information processing device that is installed in the office or the like and operated by the user K. Specifically, the supervisor terminal  3  includes, for example, a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  3   , the following describes an example of a hardware configuration of the shredder  1  that forms the shredder system described above.  FIG.  3    is a perspective view of an example of an external configuration of the shredder in the system configuration of the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG.  3   , the shredder  1  is placed on a plane (XY plane) formed by an X axis and a Y axis shown in  FIG.  3   . Accordingly, an X axis direction is referred to below as a “length direction”, a Y axis direction as a “width direction”, an upward direction along a Z axis in  FIG.  3    as an “up direction”, and a downward direction along the Z axis in  FIG.  3    as a “down direction”. 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , the shredder  1  includes the scanner device  11 , the cutting unit  12 , a housing unit  13 , and a top panel unit  14 . The top panel unit  14  is attached to an upper portion of the housing unit  13 . The top panel unit  14  has a feed opening  15  for feeding a medium P. The scanner device  11  is provided within the housing unit  13  and is located right under the feed opening  15  provided in the top panel unit  14 . The scanner device  11  reads information printed or otherwise fixed on a medium P and converts the read information into digital image data. Specifically, the scanner device  11  reads information fixed on a medium P with an automatic document feeder (not shown) transferring the medium P. The scanner device  11  then converts the read information into digital image data and outputs the converted information to an external destination. 
     The cutting unit  12  is provided within the housing unit  13  and is located under the scanner device  11 . The cutting unit  12  shreds the medium P that has been transferred thereto by the scanner device  11  (automatic document feeder) with fine blades. 
     Specifically, the medium P is fed into the shredder  1  through the feed opening  15 , and then sent to the scanner device  11 . The information fixed on the medium P is read by the scanner device  11 , converted into digital image data, and then transmitted to the server  2 . Thereafter, the medium P is transferred from the scanner device  11  to the cutting unit  12  and shredded. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  4   , the following describes an example of a hardware configuration of the server  2  that forms the shredder system described above.  FIG.  4    is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the server in the shredder system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     The server  2  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  21 , read only memory (ROM)  22 , random access memory (RAM)  23 , a bus  24 , an input/output interface  25 , an input unit  26 , an output unit  27 , a storage unit  28 , a communication unit  29 , and a drive  30 . 
     The CPU  21  executes various processes in accordance with programs recorded in the ROM  22  or programs loaded from the storage unit  28  into the RAM  23 . Data necessary for the CPU  21  to execute the various processes, for example, is also stored in the RAM  23  as appropriate. 
     The CPU  21 , the ROM  22 , and the RAM  23  are connected to each other via the bus  24 . The input/output interface  25  is also connected to the bus  24 . The input unit  26 , the output unit  27 , the storage unit  28 , the communication unit  29 , and the drive  30  are connected to the input/output interface  25 . 
     The input unit  26  includes, for example, a keyboard and receives input of various information. The output unit  27  includes, for example, a speaker and a display such as a liquid crystal display. The storage unit  28  includes, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and stores therein various data. The communication unit  29  communicates with other devices (for example, the shredder  1  in  FIG.  3   ) via the network N including the Internet. 
     A removable medium  31  including, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory is attached to the drive  30  as appropriate. A program retrieved from the removable medium  31  by the drive  30  is installed in the storage unit  28  as needed. The removable medium  31  can store therein the various data stored in the storage unit  28  in the same manner as in the storage unit  28 . 
     Although not shown, the supervisor terminal  3  in  FIG.  2    may have basically the same configuration as the hardware configuration of the server  2  shown in  FIG.  4   . Description of the configuration of the supervisor terminal  3  is therefore omitted. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  5   , the following describes functional configurations of the shredder  1 , the server  2 , and the supervisor terminal  3  having the hardware configurations shown in  FIGS.  3  and  4   .  FIG.  5    is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the server shown in  FIG.  4   . 
     The shredder  1  includes the scanner device  11  and the cutting unit  12 . The scanner device  11  of the shredder  1  includes a reading unit  111 , a main control unit  112 , and a communication unit  113  as functional blocks. The main control unit  112  includes an acquisition unit  121  and a transmission control unit  122 . 
     The CPU  21  of the server  2  includes an information acquisition unit  201 , an information management unit  202 , an information retrieving unit  203 , and a display control unit  204  as functional blocks. An acquired information DB  40  is provided in an area of the storage unit  28  of the server  2 . 
     A series of operations is initiated, for example, by the worker H or someone else feeding a medium P into the feed opening  15  provided in the top panel unit  14  of the shredder  1 . Once the medium P has been fed through the feed opening  15  of the shredder  1 , the medium P is transferred to the scanner device  11 . The reading unit  111  of the scanner device  11  reads information printed or otherwise fixed on the medium P. The acquisition unit  121  of the main control unit  112  acquires the information of the medium P read in the reading unit  111  by converting the information into digital image data. The transmission control unit  122  of the main control unit  112  executes control for transmitting the information of the medium P acquired in the form of digital image data to the server  2  via the communication unit  113 . After the information has been read in the reading unit  111  of the scanner device  11 , the medium P is sent to the cutting unit  12  of the shredder  1  and shredded. 
     The information acquisition unit  201  of the server  2  acquires the information (digital image data) transmitted from the shredder  1  via the communication unit  29 . The information management unit  202  manages the information acquired by the information acquisition unit  201  by storing, in the acquired information DB  40 , the information in a manner such that the information is identifiable as that of the medium P so that the information can be retrieved as information of the medium P. 
     When the user K wishes to refer to the information of the medium P, the user K gives an information retrieving instruction by accessing the server  2  via the supervisor terminal  3 . 
     Upon receiving the information retrieving instruction from the supervisor terminal  3 , the information retrieving unit  203  of the server  2  searches the acquired information DB  40  for the information of the medium P. Specifically, the information retrieving unit  203  obtains the information retrieving instruction sent from the supervisor terminal  3  via the communication unit  29 . The information retrieving unit  203  then retrieves the information of the medium P out of the acquired information DB  40  via the information management unit  202 . 
     Note here that the information management unit  202  may store, in the acquired information DB  40 , the information of the medium P in association with various metadata. The user K may therefore use metadata as a keyword to give an instruction for retrieving the information of the medium P. 
     Specifically, in a case where the information of the medium P is about a contract, for example, the shredder  1  may generate metadata “contract” through, for example, character recognition when reading the information of the medium P and output the metadata in association with the information (digital image data) of the medium P. In this case, when the user K wishes to retrieve information about a contract, the user K can enter “contract” as a keyword to smoothly search and extract the information of the medium P associated with the metadata “contract” out of information of various medium P stored in the acquired information DB  40 . 
     In another case, for example, the date when the information of the medium P is read by the shredder  1  is associated with the information of the medium P as metadata. In this case, when the user K wishes to retrieve the information of the medium P retrieved by the shredder  1  on “Xth day of Oth month”, the user K can enter “Xth day of Oth month” to smoothly search and extract the information of the medium P associated with the metadata “Xth day of Oth month” out of the information of the various medium P stored in the acquired information DB  40 . 
     The display control unit  204  of the server  2  executes control for displaying the information of the medium P retrieved by the information retrieving unit  203  on the supervisor terminal  3  via the communication unit  29 . 
     The supervisor terminal  3  acquires the information of the medium P through an acquisition unit thereof, not shown, and displays the information on a display thereof, not shown. 
     In the foregoing, examples of the functional configurations of the shredder  1 , the server  2 , and the supervisor terminal  3  have been described with reference to  FIG.  5   . 
     Second Embodiment 
     In the shredder  1  according to the first embodiment described above, the scanner device  11  is provided within the housing unit  13  of the shredder  1 . Upon a medium P being fed through the feed opening  15 , information fixed thereon is read by the scanner device  11  (automatic document feeder), converted into digital image data, and then sent to the server  2 . Meanwhile, the medium P is transferred to the cutting unit  12  located under the scanner device  11  and shredded. That is, according to the first embodiment, the reading of the information fixed on the medium P and the shredding of the medium P are performed as a series of processes. As such, the first embodiment only allows for information storage and recovery, and does not prevent physical medium P from being shredded. A second embodiment may therefore have a configuration in which a medium P fed through a feed opening  15  is retained in a predetermined location for a certain period of time after information fixed thereon has been read by a scanner device  11  (automatic document feeder) and before the medium P is transferred to a cutting unit  12 . The following describes a specific example of the second embodiment with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  6    is a perspective view of an example of an external configuration of a shredder in a system configuration of a shredder system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which differs from  FIG.  2   . As shown in  FIG.  6   , a shredder  1  is placed on a plane (XY plane) formed by an X axis and a Y axis shown in  FIG.  6   . Accordingly, as described above with reference to  FIG.  3   , an X axis direction is referred to as a “length direction”, a Y axis direction as a “width direction”, an upward direction along a Z axis in  FIG.  6    as an “up direction”, and a downward direction along the Z axis in  FIG.  6    as a “down direction”. 
     The shredder  1  according to the second embodiment includes a retention container  16  and a shredding device  20  as shown in  FIG.  6   . The retention container  16  includes the scanner device  11 , a housing unit  17 , and a top panel unit  18 . The shredding device  20  includes the cutting unit  12 , a housing unit  13 , and a top panel unit  14 . In the retention container  16 , the top panel unit  18  is attached to an upper portion of the housing unit  17 . The top panel unit  18  has a feed opening  19  for feeding a medium P. The scanner device  11  is provided within the housing unit  17  and is located right under the feed opening  19  in the top panel unit  18 . In the shredding device  20 , the top panel unit  14  is attached to an upper portion of the housing unit  13 . The top panel unit  14  has the feed opening  15  for feeding a medium P. The cutting unit  12  is located under the feed opening  15 . The cutting unit  12  shreds a medium P fed through the feed opening  15  with fine blades. 
     A series of operations is initiated, for example, by the worker H feeding a medium P into the feed opening  19  provided in the top panel unit  14  of the retention container  16 . Once the medium P has been fed through the feed opening  19  of the retention container  16 , the medium P is transferred to the scanner device  11 . A reading unit  111  of the scanner device  11  reads information printed or otherwise fixed on the medium P. An acquisition unit  121  of a main control unit  112  acquires the information of the medium P read in the reading unit  111  by converting the information into digital image data. A transmission control unit  122  of the main control unit  112  executes control for transmitting the information of the medium P acquired in the form of digital image data to a server  2  via a communication unit  113 . After the information has been read in the reading unit  111  of the scanner device  11 , the medium P is transferred by the automatic document feeder to a retention unit (not shown) provided within the housing unit  17  and retained for a certain period of time. 
     An information acquisition unit  201  of the server  2  acquires the information (digital image data) transmitted from the retention container  16  via a communication unit  29 . An information management unit  202  manages the information acquired by the information acquisition unit  201  by storing, in an acquired information DB  40 , the information in a manner such that the information is identifiable as that of the medium P so that the information can be retrieved as information of the medium P. 
     After being retained for a certain period of time in the retention unit provided within the housing unit  17 , the medium P is taken out from the retention unit and fed into the feed opening  15  provided in the shredding device  20 . The medium P is then sent to the cutting unit  12  and shredded. 
     When the user K wishes to refer to the information of the medium P, the user K gives an information retrieving instruction by accessing the server  2  via a supervisor terminal  3 . 
     Upon receiving the information retrieving instruction from the supervisor terminal  3 , an information retrieving unit  203  of the server  2  searches the acquired information DB  40  for the information of the medium P. Specifically, the information retrieving unit  203  obtains the information retrieving instruction sent from the supervisor terminal  3  via the communication unit  29 . The information retrieving unit  203  then retrieves the information of the medium P out of the acquired information DB  40  via the information management unit  202 . 
     A display control unit  204  of the server  2  executes control for displaying the information of the medium P retrieved by the information retrieving unit  203  on the supervisor terminal  3  via the communication unit  29 . 
     The supervisor terminal  3  acquires the information of the medium P through an acquisition unit thereof, not shown, and displays the information on a display thereof, not shown. 
     In the foregoing, a specific example of the second embodiment has been described with reference to  FIG.  6   . As described above, the shredder  1  may have a configuration in which the scanner device  11  and the cutting unit  12  are provided in different housings to give the medium P a certain period of time after the information fixed thereon has been read and before the medium P is shredded. This configuration allows, for example, the user K to retrieve the information of the medium P using the supervisor terminal  3  and determine whether or not it is all right to discard the medium P based on the nature of the medium P while the medium P is retained in the retention container  16  after the information fixed on the medium P has been read. As a result, if the medium P is determined to be treated as do-not-discard, the medium P is taken out from the retention container  16  before being transferred to the shredding device  20 , so that the medium P is not shredded. As described above, the configuration that gives the medium P a certain period of time after the information fixed thereon has been read and before the medium P is shredded allows the user K to achieve both recovery of information and recovery of the physical medium P. 
     In the foregoing, embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and encompasses changes such as modifications and improvements to the extent that the object of the present invention is achieved. 
     For example, the hardware configurations shown in  FIGS.  3 ,  4 , and  6    are merely examples of configurations for achieving the object of the present invention, and no particular limitations are placed thereon. 
     For example, in the second embodiment described above, the shredder  1  is described as having a configuration that includes the retention container  16  having a function of reading information fixed on a medium P and the shredding device  20  having a function of shredding the medium P. However, the configuration of the second embodiment is not limited as such. That is, the retention container  16  and the shredding device  20  may be provided in the same housing. 
     For another example, in the second embodiment described above, the medium P is transferred to the shredding device  20  after being retained in the retention container  16  for a certain period of time, but no particular limitations are placed on how to transfer the medium P. For example, the medium P may be transferred manually by the user K or someone else, or may be transferred automatically. 
     The functional block diagram shown in  FIG.  5    is merely an example, and no particular limitations are placed thereon. That is, as long as the information processing device has functions for executing the series of processes described above as a whole, functional blocks to be used for implementing such functions are not particularly limited to the example shown in  FIG.  5   . 
     Furthermore, the functional blocks are not limited to being in the locations shown in  FIG.  5    and may be in any locations. Furthermore, one functional block may be implemented solely by hardware, may be implemented solely by software, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software. 
     In a configuration in which the processes in the respective functional blocks are executed by software, programs that form the software are installed in a device such as a computer via a network or a recording medium. The computer may be any computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. Furthermore, the computer may be, for example, any computer capable of executing various functions through various programs installed therein, such as a server, a general-purpose smartphone, or a general-purpose personal computer. 
     The recording medium containing the programs may be, for example, any removable medium that is distributed separately from the body of a device in order to provide the programs to each user, or any recording medium that is incorporated in the body of a device in order to be provided to each user along with the device. 
     The information fixed on the medium P is not particularly limited to being outputted as digital image data as in the foregoing embodiments. That is, the information of the medium P may be outputted as text data rather than image data. In this case, the user K may use at least a portion of the text data as a keyword to give an instruction for retrieving the information of the medium P. Specifically, for example, when the user K wishes to retrieve contract-related information, the user K enters “contract” as a keyword. As a result, information of any medium P containing the keyword “contract” is found and extracted out of information of various medium P stored in the acquired information DB  40 . This configuration, in which information of each medium P is outputted as text data, advantageously enables information of a medium P associated with a certain keyword to be smoothly found and extracted. 
     However, text data is also disadvantageous in that information therein can be easily rewritten. Specifically, for example, a non-related party with a fraudulent purpose can easily rewrite information about a contract with a client outputted as text data and output the information by fixing the information onto another medium. As described above, the configuration in which information of each medium P is outputted as text data is advantageous in that information can be easily found and extracted, but is also disadvantageous in that the information can be easily rewritten. 
     In this respect, digital image data is advantageous in that information included therein tends to be relatively difficult to modify, and thus the information is less editable. In a situation in which information fixed on a medium P is, for example, about a contract with a client, and is so important that editing thereof is impermissible, therefore, the information fixed on the medium P is more admissible as evidence and more preferable if the information is outputted as digital image data than if the information is outputted as text data. 
     In other words, the shredder system to which the present invention is applied may take various different embodiments as long as the shredder system has the following configuration. That is, a shredder system according to an aspect of the present invention includes: 
     an information processing device (for example, the server  2  in  FIG.  2   );
 
a shredder (for example, the shredder  1  in  FIG.  3   ) configured to shred a medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ) having information fixed thereon; and
 
a scanner device (for example, the scanner device  11  in  FIG.  3   ),
 
the scanner device (for example, the scanner device  11  in  FIG.  3   ) being configured to read the information fixed on the medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ) at a predetermined time before the medium is shredded by the shredder (for example, the shredder  1  in  FIG.  3   ),
 
the information processing device including
 
an information acquisition section (for example, the information acquisition unit  201  in  FIG.  5   ) configured to acquire the information read by the scanner device (for example, the scanner device  11  in  FIG.  3   ) and
 
an information management section (for example, the information management unit  202  in  FIG.  5   ) configured to manage the information acquired by the information acquisition section (for example, the information acquisition unit  201  in  FIG.  5   ) in a recoverable manner. According to this configuration, the information fixed on the medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ) is read by the scanner device (for example, the scanner device  11  in  FIG.  3   ) at a predetermined time before the medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ) is shredded by the shredder (for example, the shredder  1  in  FIG.  3   ), and then is acquired by the information acquisition section (for example, the information acquisition unit  201  in  FIG.  5   ) of the information processing device and managed in a recoverable manner by the information management section (for example, the information management unit  202  in  FIG.  5   ). That is, this configuration makes it possible to prevent information destruction, because the information fixed on the medium is acquired before the medium is shredded and managed in a recoverable manner.
 
     The information acquisition section (for example, the information acquisition unit  201  in  FIG.  5   ) acquires the information as image information. Since the information fixed on the medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ) is acquired as image information, this configuration makes it possible to prevent the information from being altered. That is, this configuration helps increase the reliability of the information. 
     Furthermore, the information processing device further includes a provision section (for example, the information retrieving unit  203  in  FIG.  5   ) configured to recover and provide the information. According to this configuration, the provision section (for example, the information retrieving unit  203  in  FIG.  5   ) recovers and provides the information fixed on the medium (for example, the medium P in  FIG.  3   ). That is, this configuration makes it possible to recover information fixed on a medium that has been fed into a shredder. 
     EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
           1 : Shredder 
           2 : Server 
           3 : Supervisor terminal 
           201 : Information acquisition unit 
           202 : Information management unit 
           203 : Information retrieving unit 
           204 : Display control unit