Complete Data Security Wipe
At ACE Recycling, we prioritize your data security above all else. We recognize the significance of safeguarding sensitive information, as we, too, use personal hard drives at home and work. When you entrust us with your electronic device, we guarantee we will not start it up or access your operating system. Our industry, IT Asset Disposition (ITAD), adheres to the principles of data security and responsible disposal of electronic equipment. This aligns with the circular economy concept, emphasizing resource recycling and reuse instead of wastage. Rest assured that at ACE Recycling, your data is secure.
ACE Recycling Data Security Standards
At ACE Recycling, we follow the data destruction guidelines outlined in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report, “Guidelines for Media Sanitization 800.88“. Our process involves a one-pass overwrite with thorough disk verification, utilizing the most up-to-date version of Active@KillDisk. The National Security Agency recognizes this method as permanently destroying data, “making any forensic data recovery impossible.”
ACE Recycling employs a tiered system that includes both software verification and manual checks to ensure the security of our customer’s data. We randomly sample devices that undergo sanitization to guarantee the complete data wipe.
Our commitment to a circular economy also drives us to refurbish reusable materials to reduce electronic waste and carbon emissions. By reusing materials, we help reduce the number of raw materials that need to be extracted from the Earth to create new electronics, which ultimately helps lessen the damage caused to the environment. To this end, we erase all drives 120GB or above, and any hard drives below 120GB or that fail the wiping process are physically destroyed. This process is detailed further in the video below. If requested, we can provide a serialized list of erased hard drives at no extra cost.
However, it is essential to note that everything is wiped clean and unrecoverable, so please transfer any important files, pictures, or documents to a USB or second hard drive. Please consult our “Guide to Preparing Your Electronic Equipment for Recycling” article for assistance.
Data Erasure
Data wiping is a secure way to remove all electronic information from a hard disk drive. ACE uses the latest version of Active@ KillDisk to perform a one-pass overwrite with complete disk verification. This process makes data on the hard drive unrecoverable, including operating systems. During the wiping process, only the hard drive’s serial number is accessed by Active@ KillDisk. You can watch the data erasure process by watching the video below. ACE offers an environmentally friendly alternative to physical destruction by wiping data and reducing electronic waste and carbon emissions. For more detailed information on data wiping, refer to the article “The Fundamentals of Data Security: Security & Recycling.”
Physical Destruction
When mechanical problems are encountered during the wiping process, or the hard drive is simply outdated, the process involves physically destroying a hard drive by punching a hole through the spinning disk. This disk is also called the “platter” and stores data. Wiping and physically destroying data offer protection, but destroying a hard drive renders it unusable in another computer and removes it from the circular economy. Third-party partners extract rare earth metals from the magnet in the hard drive.
See it in Action!
Watch the video below to see the data destruction process. In this video, you will see us erase a hard drive with the Destroyinator using Active@KillDisk. Additionally, see what a punched hard drive looks like. As always, we aim to be as transparent as possible. Please let us know if you have questions.