(FORTUNE Magazine) – Ten years ago, if you owned a paper shredder, you were probably the kind of person who knew a little too much about the Roswell UFO crash and was convinced that the CIA spied on you via your German shepherd.

Times changed. No longer just for the utterly paranoid, shredders have gone mainstream. Sales have exploded in the past two years, and in 1999 more than seven million were sold in the U.S. alone.

What's going on? Setting aside the perverse pleasure--unmatched by other appliances--it's about security. "Everyone has realized that they should be destroying confidential materials," says Todd Althoff, vice president of marketing and new-product development at Royal Consumer Business Products. Bank statements, preapproved credit card applications, and anything bearing a Social Security number could land in the hands of a criminal looking to steal your identity. "Once your garbage hits the streets," says Althoff, "it's fair game."

You laugh, but plenty of regular folks, like Wendy Richmond of Brooklyn, have begun julienning their documents. "I have people going through my garbage all the time," she says. "I'm fearful of someone getting hold of my information." While shredding may seem a bit over the top, for some people it's still not enough. For them, may we suggest another option: matches.

--REED TUCKER