What to Look for in an e-Destruction Provider

You might be familiar with the services of paper shredders, but how much do you know about e-destruction providers? At some point, everyone needs to dispose of old hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. Have you been storing them in a closet because you don’t know what to do with them, or have you been taking them to the recycling center? Either way, you are putting yourself and business at high risk of a data breach.

As a private individual, if you aren’t having your obsolete hard drives and optical media shredded by a reputable shredding provider, you may be putting your personal information at risk of theft. As a business, you could be liable for not protecting the private information stored in those electronic devices.

Qualities of a Good e-Destruction Provider

1. Scheduled Pickup

Find a provider that will pick up or provide on-site destruction of your electronic media so you can ensure your data isn’t at risk of being stolen.

2. Chain of Custody

Make sure your shredding provider provides a secure chain of custody throughout the collection and destruction process of the electronics so that any residual data is kept secure until your items are destroyed to the point that the data is no longer retrievable.

3. Certificate of Destruction

Having proof of destruction for your hard drives and other electronic media is just as important and valuable as it is with paper shredding. Having a Certificate of Destruction will serve as proof of your business’ compliance with data privacy laws.

4. Familiarity with Data Privacy Laws

It’s important that a company has the proper equipment and background-screened staff to securely shred your hard drives, and it’s also important that they are trained in the requirements of legally-compliant shredding.

5. Trustworthy Experts

Ask the company if they do background checks on their staff and how they ensure their training is kept up to date.

6. Business Relationship

You need an e-Destruction provider you can trust and that will tailor their services to meet your unique needs. Find one that will spend the time to answer all your questions before you decide to work with them.

7. Recycling

Is your business environmentally conscious? If it is, then every company you work with should be, too. That includes the e-destruction company you choose. Ask what happens with all the metals and toxic materials in your drives after they are destroyed.

Wiggins Shredding is more than just the choice for secure paper shredding for businesses and residents of Pennsylvania and the Tri-State Area of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. We also offer e-Destruction of your discarded hard drives and optical media. Want more information? Our friendly experts are standing by to answer your questions. Simply call us at 610-692-TEAR(8327) or complete the form on this page.