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Compliant Data Destruction and Proper Disposal of IT Equipment

“Is the risk of improper disposal becoming the key driver in asset disposition in today’s regulated environment?”

Mid-sized companies to Fortune 500 companies are being fined by federal and/or state agencies for thousands to millions of dollars for improper disposal of electronic equipment.  Television exposes have shown used PC’s and monitors being burned in open pits in third world countries. We’ve seen this playing out a lot in the last few years and it’s going to play out a lot more in 2012 and beyond.

Data integrity and data destruction go hand-in-hand. Whether you’re a lessor who has possession of returned IT equipment or you’re a company with owned IT equipment, the laws regulating how you dispose of that gear are becoming increasingly stringent. Do you know all of the laws and regulations? More importantly, does your recycling/remarketing partner know them all? How safe do you feel about every piece of equipment that you send to your partner(s)? What certification do they hold and what processes do they follow? Do you audit them for compliance?

These are the key questions that every business must answer in today’s environment.  With new PC’s and laptops continuing to drop in price as tablets and smartphones grow in popularity, the used value for three to four year old PC’s is falling faster than ever. Do the decreasing sales proceeds justify the risk if you aren’t using a proven, environmentally sound partner with the certifications to back up everything they do?

One important certification for data destruction and compliance is to require “AAA Certified” from the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID). NAID “AAA Certified” is the only national third party security certificate program for information destruction operations. In addition to an annual wall-to-wall audit, the NAID certification program establishes many standards for a secure destruction process including operational security, employee hiring and screening, information destruction processes and responsible disposal. For more information on NAID see www.naidonline.org.

The next time you have older gear needing recycling, think about partnering with a firm that can crush and even shred hard drives right at your site.  Or make sure they can crush and shred the drives at their site and will document where every component goes when the machine is totally de-manufactured. You can’t risk being taken in by a firm that doesn’t comply with all data destruction rules and regulations.

Minimal cost and maximum peace of mind will result from doing it right.

2 Comments

• Arleen Chafitz

  Dec 21, 2011

  Okay Jim so I just realized we are competitors. Still great article…..

  Arleen Chafitz
  e-End

• Jim Noyes

  Jan 25, 2012

  Thanks for the kind words Arleen! Your comments made me smile…