The majority of us have a technology graveyard somewhere in our home or office. What’s a technology graveyard? It’s that (probably dusty) container filled will all of your old devices: laptops, phones, hard drives. Do you know what files are stored on those devices? They are likely holding a whole lot of data like photos, documents, and emails. Now think a little more carefully: are these files confidential? Do they contain personally identifiable information? Perhaps they are simply embarrassing? Either way, they are the last thing you would want falling into the hands of strangers – especially those with bad intentions.
Recent data shows that users are taking minimal precautions to protect their information before disposing of these devices. The majority of us probably aren’t doing anything to ensure that this data doesn’t fall into the hands of a cyber criminal. Instead, these old devices serve as a mine of personally identifiable information – the bread and butter of identity theft.
Using basic scanning tools, researchers were able to obtain social security numbers, dates of birth, credit card information, and other sensitive data. Even information like passport numbers and driver’s license details were found. This all sat among 200,000 images, 3400 documents, and nearly 150,000 emails.
The key takeaway is that just because you delete a file, doesn’t mean it’s actually gone. It may not be visible in your File Explorer, but it still exists within your system.
Now that you understand the danger of valuable information sitting on an unwanted device, it’s time to consider a solution. We are able to completely wipe any of your devices to ensure that your private information is completely deleted. This will render commercial data recovery tools useless.
Once you’ve removed the sensitive data, you can consider other options for disposing of your physical device. You may want to donate or trade-in your device, or perhaps just destroy it altogether. Buy yourself some piece of mind by disposing of your unwanted devices in the correct and ethical manner. We can handle e-waste, so you can safely dispose of your device by dropping it into our store.
If you have those old devices sitting around taking up space, contact us today to explore your cleaning and disposal options!