The Importance of Securely Destroying Old Hard Drives

The growth of digital storage solutions has in many ways been a blessing for businesses.  You no longer have to deal with tons of paper copies taking up space in filing cabinets on the premises or pay for off-site warehouse storage for overflow records.  Now you can store your entire backlog of records digitally, saving space and money, not to mention adding convenient access for employees.

Of course, you will eventually upgrade to new equipment, at which point your hard drives will have to be destroyed.  Throwing them away is not an option, even if you wipe them first, since lingering data could be recovered by dumpster-diving thieves.  Neither do you want to try DIY methods of destruction like driving nails through your hardware.

Instead, you need to team up with a company capable of securely destroying and recycling your hard drives for you, or alternately, overwriting all traces of data before reselling them so you can recoup some cost.  Why is it so important to securely destroy old hard drives?  Here are a few reasons that should convince you of the essential nature of this task.

Protect Confidential Data

This is the number one reason to securely destroy hard drives when you no longer need them.  Your clients, employees, vendors, business partners, and so on entrust you with sensitive data, and you have an obligation to keep it confidential.

Stolen information could be used for the purposes of identity theft or even to breach your network and steal further data.  This could be extremely damaging to anyone who does business with you.  Of course, your company data could also be stolen and used by competitors to undermine you.  In other words, it’s in everyone’s best interest to ensure that confidential data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Comply with Privacy Laws

In addition to your ethical obligation to protect sensitive data, you must comply with privacy laws designed to keep consumers safe.  Your company may be bound by federal, state, and even local privacy laws that spell out how to properly dispose of hard drives, and you must comply or face potential penalties.

Depending on your industry, you may face even stricter standards from laws like HIPAA and FACTA.  The good news is that you can partner with a reliable shredding company that is well aware of these regulations and has the knowledge and experience to comply on your behalf, as well as provide necessary proof of destruction.

Avoid Long-Term Damage

When data is stolen, it could not only lead to identity theft and data breach, as well as government penalties, but it could also severely damage your business.  Disgruntled customers could abandon you or even launch lawsuits.  Employees could jump ship.  Partners and vendors may not want to work with you and your reputation could be irreparably damaged.

In addition, you’ll likely lose revenue and even prospective future customers.  Why risk it when it’s so easy to securely destroy hard drives with the help of a reputable service provider like SEAM?  If you own and operate a business in the Sioux Falls, SD area, call SEAM today at 605-274-SEAM (7326) to find out more.