Patent ID: 8364306

Claim:
An object shredding apparatus comprising: a receptacle configured to receive objects; a shredding unit connected to the receptacle configured to selectively destroy the objects placed into the receptacle; an object detector configured to detect a presence of an object in the receptacle; an object identifier configured to identify the objects and a type of the objects placed into the receptacle; a memory; a connector configured to establish a communications link with a data processing system; a controller configured to store identifications of objects identified by the object identifier in the memory, receive a request to destroy an object in the receptacle, identify an identity of a user requesting to destroy the object, identify a type of the object identified by the object identifier, reference an access control policy to identify whether the user is permitted to destroy the object based on the identity of the user and the type of the object, and send a signal to the shredding unit to control shredding of the objects; and a secure bin having a lock and operably connected to the shredding unit, the secure bin configured to receive from the receptacle the objects that are placed in the receptacle and not shredded by the shredding unit, the lock configured to control access to the objects that were not shredded.