Published on May 2, 2019, Updated on January 18, 2022
How much information passes through the electronic devices you own every day? How much of that data is private? And when your device for whatever reason has reached the end of its useful life, do you just do a factory reset, make sure all the data has been manually deleted, and sell it off or dispose of it? What if you learned that a recent study performed by the Blancco Technology Group discovered that 48% of the second-hand hard drives they purchased online contained significant amounts of residual data, and 35% of mobile devices retained thousands of emails, user logs, and private data thought to be removed by users? For large organizations dealing with massive amounts of data across an array of electronic devices, let’s talk more about why it’s vital for your organization to have an established secure data destruction plan in place.
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Unsecure Methods are Unreliable
In the study mentioned above, users had attempted to delete data on 57% of the mobile devices and 75% of the hard drives, but those attempts were unsuccessful due to the methods used. Simply deleting files from a drive or device leaves that data recoverable, as do quick format methods.
Unsecured Methods Leave You Vulnerable to Identity Theft or Liability
Regardless if you’re an individual, business, or government entity, failure to wipe sensitive data from a device can have serious, even legal, repercussions. For individuals, failing to pursue a secure data destruction method for your devices or drives leaves emails, texts, call logs, and other private data accessible to anyone with malicious intent.
For companies and government entities that have to follow laws and regulations governing how private data should be handled, the consequences to not utilizing secured methods of data destruction can be dire. Aside from fines and penalties, the news of a data breach involving private user data can destroy a company or organization’s reputation to such a degree that few companies are able to bounce back from such events.
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Default to Secure Data Destruction Methods
When disposing of devices and hard drives that might contain private data, seek out vendors that offer secure destruction services. Legitimate disposal services will include a certificate of destruction, a document tracing the chain of custody of the device, when and how the device was destroyed, and transferal of liability from the original owner to the company carrying out the process of destruction. Many of the regulatory requirements in place governing data privacy outline the acceptable methods of destruction, which include physically shredding the device or magnetic degaussing, depending upon the nature of the information.
Destruction You Can Trust
We take data destruction extremely seriously here at 1 Green Planet. As more and more companies gather user data in order to better meet customer expectations, more companies are being impacted, and must have options to protect themselves against claims of mishandling sensitive data. Our secure data destruction services and data destruction certification process ensure that your devices will be handled in a way that meets all of these criteria, as well as our high standards for limiting the environmental impact of the recycling process. Contact us today for data destruction services as well as recycling solutions and we’ll walk you through every step.
