Back in the day, when the personal computer was a novelty, and they used to sell cheap ones through adverts in newspapers, there were a lot of disgruntled customers smashing up their so-called bargains and throwing them into a skip. Those things would come with loads of CDs you didn’t want or need, as if a free do-it-yourself French course would make their product more attractive than their equally low-quality competitors. They would freeze or just shut down, losing the work you had done, and that was infuriating to the point that peaceful people got angry with the machines.
This was in the days when businesses didn’t necessarily use computers because they had electronic calculators and typewriters and people who were good at administration. In those times, many companies would simply burn any paperwork they didn’t need, without considering the environmental impact.
Then came computerised admin packages and shredders, and when the online revolution took off, every business suddenly had some IT around the place because their potential market had increased exponentially.
The trouble with digital information is that it is harder to get rid of than would seem logical. They say in the digital world, nothing is ever really deleted. It still exists somewhere, and it could be sensitive information concerning not just your company but your clients, too. That means you can’t just take an old computer out of the back and set about it with a hammer.
There are data security regulations to comply with, and that has led to the existence of accredited recyclers for certified data destruction. The old term “wiping” makes it sound so simple, but it’s not.
The Security Risk of Forgotten Devices: Why a Factory Reset Isn’t Enough
Sometimes, it is built-in advantages that turn into problems when you ditch an old device. These things can be full of banking information, passwords and other details, and it is a sad indictment of the world in the 21st century that a whole new breed of criminal has emerged. Cybercrime can take many forms, from theft from bank accounts to blackmail and extortion, and it all comes down to information being in a digital form that technologically skilled people can use for nefarious purposes.
We are all at risk, and that is why regulatory authorities have drawn up procedures that must be followed. While failing to follow data destruction protocols can result in our exposing others to these dangers, our own details are on other people’s systems, so we are vulnerable too.
The factory reset that is offered to us on our phones when things have gone haywire for some reason does clear the decks to a certain extent, but for a gifted tech criminal, this is anything but secure. They can find their way in and uncover information we had forgotten we had and thought had been destroyed anyway.
Data Destruction Methods: Comparing Degaussing, Shredding, and Wiping
As always in the tech world, there are technical terms that we have to understand before we can know if we need them or not. Degaussing, for instance, is the use of powerful magnetic fields to scramble and erase tapes, hard drives and other magnetic storage drives. Did you even know a traditional hard drive was magnetic? There is so much about computer technology that we simply accept. We don’t know how it works because we don’t need to know.
Then there is shredding. That all started with machines that sliced up paper into tiny pieces, rendering it unreadable. Now it can also mean doing something similar in food preparation or even playing an electric guitar so fast that the implication is you could shred your fingers. In IT security terms, shredding is another way of making an old hard drive secure by ripping it apart methodically so it is unusable and impossible to reconstruct.
The old term wiping has a new meaning in data destruction, and it involves overwriting the information with random meaningless patterns. So, we have three options for making information unreadable/unusable: degaussing, shredding and wiping.
E-Waste Compliance in Australia: What Businesses Need to Know
E-waste refers not so much to the digital information as to the equipment itself. While those violently destroyed old, cheap and nasty computers probably ended up in a landfill, in today’s ecologically aware climate, that is simply not good enough. While you may separate your paper, plastic and glass for recycling, the items you ditch only once in a blue moon should not be forgotten.
According to Clean Up Australia, the total e-waste this country produces is estimated to grow to 657,000 tonnes by 2030, and when as much as 90% of the parts in your abandoned computer or TV can be recycled, it doesn’t make sense to dump it.
Many electronic devices use small amounts of what are known as rare earth metals, which are gouged out of the soil and painstakingly isolated and prepared for a high-tech life. Recycling your device can help reduce that mining.
Even the plastics and glass components, such as screens, can make a small but worthwhile contribution to the worldwide movement to stop unnecessary depletion of our precious natural resources.
There are e-waste drop-off points at post offices and some electronic and furniture retailers, but if you haven’t seen one in your area, go to recylemate.com.au, and you will find somewhere.
Maximising Value: When to Donate, Resell, or Recycle Old Equipment
There is something very satisfying about donating, reselling or recycling old equipment, and it is all part of being a responsible 21st-century citizen. If what you no longer have a use for might be welcomed by a school, a hospital or a retirement home, why not offer it to them (suitably erased, of course)? Or put it on an online for sale/wanted group and get a few dollars for it.
As for recycling, this is best left to the specialists, so find a place to drop it off, and you can relax in the knowledge that it will be in good hands. For professional assistance with secure data destruction and proper equipment disposal, contact Nerds 2 You for expert guidance.
