Your office may be undergoing a redecoration or renovation, or you may have just recently moved your company to a different city. Any big changes like these are usually accompanied by a significant ‘purge’ of equipment or other items, which may no longer be needed. While this can save your company a lot of money and time, you must be sure you’re doing it right.
Professional Asset Disposal is The Answer
Simply taking your computers to a WEEE recycling depot may seem like a good idea, but this can actually expose any lingering business information to unwanted third parties. The same is true if you have any documents and employee ID cards that need to be recycled; throwing them in with your regular recycling can put you at risk of serious information leaks, however unintentional.
Maintaining Data Security
Although the majority of consumers know how to ‘remove’ basic data from their USB sticks, tablets and other devices, a worrying number are not aware of the danger of leaving data stored on computers once they have been supposedly ‘wiped’. The truth is that although data may no longer be visible after wiping a device, it still ‘lives’ there, and is still quite easy to access. ‘Deleting’ data by conventional means merely removes the data pathways. The data is still there and can be retrieved easily using the right software.
Today’s definition of proper IT asset disposal is to balance your legal obligation to client privacy with your obligation to the Data Protection Act. The best way to ensure that both obligations are met is to call a specialist data disposal company like Absolute IT. We specialise in legal compliance, ensuring that all data carrying items we receive from clients are securely, legally and completely destroyed.
Low Environmental Risk
When you choose an asset disposal company like Absolute IT to rid yourself of unwanted items, you are not only ensuring the security of your data, but also placing less stress on the environment. Every piece of computer or printing equipment in your offices contains toxic materials which must be dealt with properly to avoid environmental damage. Many of the assets handled by so-called ‘Free IT recycling’ services are not recycled at all, but end up in landfills in the developing world, where they leach into the surrounding water table. This is a huge waste of precious resources that can easily be reused, and poses a serious hazard to local people and animals.
Data Erasure & Shredding
Our specialists know that the only way to ensure the permanent destruction and complete inaccessibility of hard drives and other media is with top-quality data erasure tools. For data sanitisation we use Blancco, a market leader in data destruction and IT security software. Where hard drives need to be completely destroyed, we offer professional hard drive shredding and disposal services.
Our shredders grind all manner of data-containing items to 6mm particulates. We can come to you in our mobile shredding vehicle, and once all of the work has been completed, will issue you a certificate of destruction as well as an itemised list of all items that we destroyed.
Secure On-Site Storage
Our range of Secure Office Boxes allow businesses of all sizes to securely store items slated for destruction. No matter where your business is in the UK, simply give us a call and we can ship your Secure Office Box directly to you. Fill the box with your unwanted items and when full, call our service desk to arrange for pick-up.
Find Out More About Our Services
We process a wide range of sensitive IT assets for businesses. From desktop computers to USB sticks, our team has developed systems that ensure the safe destruction of all unwanted data. Call Absolute IT today to learn more. To find out more about secure data shredding, please take a look at our free guide to The 5 Hidden Dangers of Free IT Recycling. You can download the eBook today by clicking here.