Recycled Risk

Many businesses now choose to give away, rather than dump or destroy, IT equipment which is working but has reached the end of its business use.

Whether the equipment is broken for spares or continues to be used there is a risk that your confidential data could find it’s way into the wrong hands.

The least secure way to remove data is just to delete the files because they can often be easily recovered. Similarly formatting the drive without then overwriting it can also be a waste of time - some of the data could still be recovered. “Scrubbing” is the only effective measure.

So always make sure that your data has been removed correctly. Or donate it to a charity such as Computer Aid International which specifically undertakes to remove the data securely as part of its service and will also accept full legal liability for donated equipment.
http://www.computer-aid.org/

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