Electronic Device Disposal
It’s important to learn how to safely dispose of electronic devices, such as computers, smartphones, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices as sensitive information can still exist in them.
Quick tips
It’s helpful to familiarize yourself with the different types of electronic devices that must be disposed of carefully.
Computers, smartphones, and tablets
These are some of the most commonly used devices within businesses and are likely to contain a great deal of sensitive information.
Digital media
These electronic devices create, store, and play digital content. For example, digital cameras, CDs, DVDs, and media players.
External hardware and peripheral devices
These devices connect to and exchange data with computers. For example, external hard drives, USB sticks, and printers.
Effective methods for removing data
There are a variety of reliable and safe methods for permanently erasing data (also called sanitizing).
Always make sure to back up any important data your business uses before sanitizing a device. Saving your data to another device or a second location can help you recover it if you accidentally erase information or if your device is stolen.
Deleting data
Deleting data will not completely erase the data from your media drives as the data will remain on the drives until it is written over with new files. Depending on the size of your drive, among other factors, this could take months.
Using your device’s trash bin and then emptying the bin also does not guarantee permanent data deletion.
Clearing and purging media is highly recommended.
To reliably delete data, several sanitation steps such as clearing and purging are required. You can also hire a professional to assist with the sanitization process.
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