Difference between revisions of "Data Security"
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We overwrite the drive 3 times. The first time we write 1's to every sector, the second time we write 0's to every sector and the third time | We overwrite the drive 3 times. The first time we write 1's to every sector, the second time we write 0's to every sector and the third time | ||
| − | we write | + | we write random data to every sector. |
How long does this process take? (Can I wait/watch for my drive to be wiped? No.) | How long does this process take? (Can I wait/watch for my drive to be wiped? No.) | ||
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[If someone still seems uncomfortable leaving their drive with us, do NOT encourage them to leave it. Instead offer the following advice.] | [If someone still seems uncomfortable leaving their drive with us, do NOT encourage them to leave it. Instead offer the following advice.] | ||
| − | Ultimately, data security is your responsibility. You are welcome to remove the drive yourself, destroy it, and bring it back to us to be responsibly recycled. You may also borrow a disk from us to overwrite your drive at home before donating it to us. We just as you bring the disk back when you return to donate. A third option is to find an outside party to wipe your drive for you. | + | Ultimately, data security is your responsibility. You are welcome to remove the drive yourself, destroy it, and bring it back to us to be responsibly recycled. You may also borrow a disk from us to overwrite your drive at home before donating it to us. We just as you bring the disk back when you return to donate. A third option is to find an outside party to wipe your drive for you. |
| − | + | We cannot make suggestions about outside parties, but we can offer some questions that a reputable provider should be happy to answer: | |
| − | + | # Do you have a drive shredder? | |
| + | # If not, what is your specific procedure for making my data unreadable? | ||
| + | # Will my drive be locked up until it is wiped? | ||
| + | # May I see my drive being locked up? | ||
| − | * | + | ***The most important aspect of data security is making sure the customer is COMFORTABLE leaving their drive with us.*** |
| − | + | [If they are exhibiting discomfort after the above script, the best recommendation is to send them home with the data destruction disk or to recommend they seek outside help and bring the remainder of their items to us for responsible reuse or recycling, and to get their itemized tax receipt.] | |
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| − | [ | ||
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| − | Previous version until 5/19.09. | + | Previous version until 5/19.09 below. New version updated by MK, Dave, Vagrant & Laurel 1.0. |
<s>At Free Geek we put the utmost care in ensuring complete data destruction of '''All''' user data that is donated to us. | <s>At Free Geek we put the utmost care in ensuring complete data destruction of '''All''' user data that is donated to us. | ||
Revision as of 12:41, 19 May 2009
Data Security FAQ
Is my data secure?
We wipe each drive 3 times or physically damage the drive and separate the components. This process is based on a Department of Defense (D.O.D.) algorithm.
How do you wipe the drive? How do you destroy the data?
We overwrite the drive 3 times. The first time we write 1's to every sector, the second time we write 0's to every sector and the third time we write random data to every sector.
How long does this process take? (Can I wait/watch for my drive to be wiped? No.)
Wiping a drive is a lengthy, overnight process that takes several hours.
[If someone still seems uncomfortable leaving their drive with us, do NOT encourage them to leave it. Instead offer the following advice.]
Ultimately, data security is your responsibility. You are welcome to remove the drive yourself, destroy it, and bring it back to us to be responsibly recycled. You may also borrow a disk from us to overwrite your drive at home before donating it to us. We just as you bring the disk back when you return to donate. A third option is to find an outside party to wipe your drive for you.
We cannot make suggestions about outside parties, but we can offer some questions that a reputable provider should be happy to answer:
- Do you have a drive shredder?
- If not, what is your specific procedure for making my data unreadable?
- Will my drive be locked up until it is wiped?
- May I see my drive being locked up?
- The most important aspect of data security is making sure the customer is COMFORTABLE leaving their drive with us.***
[If they are exhibiting discomfort after the above script, the best recommendation is to send them home with the data destruction disk or to recommend they seek outside help and bring the remainder of their items to us for responsible reuse or recycling, and to get their itemized tax receipt.]
Previous version until 5/19.09 below. New version updated by MK, Dave, Vagrant & Laurel 1.0.
At Free Geek we put the utmost care in ensuring complete data destruction of All user data that is donated to us.
Hard drives that meet our specifications for reuse are removed from their systems and wiped in our hard drive sanitation banks. The process we use to ensure total data destruction complies to DOD ( Department of Defense ) 5220-22.M standards for data destruction. Every sector of the Hard Drive is overwritten 3 times using a destructive write which ensures that ALL data on the drive is completely destroyed and totally unrecoverable.
Hard drives that are below our specifications for reuse are physically destroyed on site.
Magnetic media such as floppy disks and backup tapes are disassembled in our recycling area and the plastic components are shredded by our plastics recycling vendor.
Optical media such as cd-rw discs are physically destroyed as soon as we receive them