Hard Drive Destruction 101
For consumers and businesses, it is important to properly dispose of, recycle and destroy hard drives. Here is our “Hard Drive Destruction 101,” a guide to help you prepare your hard drives for destruction and more!
We take the destruction of personal data very seriously and so should you. In today’s world, you simply cannot risk financial and sensitive data stored on hard drives getting into the wrong hands.
For both consumers and businesses, getting hard drives properly disposed of, recycled and destroyed is a must.
Hard Drive Destruction 101
Below you will find:
- A description of the types of things you can do to prepare your devices before disposal; and
- The ways working with a shredding and disposal company makes the process hassle-free and guaranteed.
First things first, you’ll need to decide that a computer has reached its end of life. Either it’s no longer in working order, too outdated for your usage or you have no more use of it.
If you’re just looking to wipe the data clean so the hard drive can be reused, a responsible IT professional may be able to help. In this process, they will overwrite and clear all data and set it back to you.
Within some industries, destruction is required.
At this point, you should take inventory of the type of functions a device has performed over its lifetime. Has it been used to store and process people’s health, financial or other identifying data like social security numbers? If so, it will need to be destroyed properly.
Working with a hard drive destruction company, they will assess whether the age of the hard drive requires it to be sent straight for destruction or if responsible recycling can occur. Candidates for this process will go through a degaussing process which removes the magnetic charge within the hard drive and renders it wiped clean, or unusable.
Parts that can be melted down and reused are then separated and sent through a shredder, breaking it down into pieces.
After the hard drive is shredded, a certificate of destruction is issued.
On-site hard drive destruction services are also a great, convenient way to ensure your hard drives are destroyed on the site, therefore, never leaving the premises.
Leave any possibility of a security breach, identity theft or fines out of the equation. Get in touch today!
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