There are many different companies on the market that provide data destruction services. Unfortunately, many of them provide services that do not comply with restrictive procedures for the safe and irreversible removal of information from data carriers. Too low price for demagnetization or physical destruction of memory should make you think – is the company really providing this type of service professionally? In addition, it is important to know if such a company provides data deletion services, data carrier destruction services – or is it only concerned with their disposal?
Companies dealing with the data destruction service remove information from media using a degausser or using specialized software. Enterprises that destroy media – physically damage them. Those that provide carrier utilization services – recycle them in an environmentally safe manner (they don’t care about safety of information contained on the carriers).
Here are a few questions you should ask the company before confiding them the media with valuable information.

How will my data be deleted?
Valuable information on the data carrier should be deleted in a way that prevents its recovery. Different procedures should be used for magnetic media and different ones for flash media. The contractor should have reliable knowledge on the effective removal of data from various types of memory and propose a solution that meets the client’s needs.

What equipment will the data deletion services be performed with?
Remember that the magnetic field emitted by the degausser should be much higher than the magnetic coercivity of the carrier. This is important as some commercially available degaussers are too weak to erase data from any type of medium. Remember that in the case of hard drives, the magnetic field emitted by the device should be at least 10.000 Gauss. If a company destroys media physically, it must have equipment that shreds them into pieces so that the information cannot be retrieved. Ideally, these should be devices operating, for example, in accordance with DIN66399:
– H-5 for hard drives with magnetic data media
– O-2 for optical data media
– T-3 for magnetic tape media
– E-2 for electronic data media

More about professional data removal equipment here >>

Do you have references from other clients?
One of the best ways to check the credibility of a data deletion company is to talk to its customers. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask for references confirming the reliability of the services provided.

How long have you been providing data deletion services?
It is worth using a service provider with extensive market experience. Companies operating for a short time may not have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide services related to sensitive data.

Can I ask you to present the procedure according to which the service is provided?
Each company that provides such services should have implemented procedures that comply with the strictest standards for safe data deletion. This guarantees that they will be carried out in a reliable manner. It is best to choose a company that is ISO 9001: 2015-10 certified in the field of data removal from media. It is also important to note whether the service provider has replacement equipment in the event of a failure or has the developed procedures in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

Will I receive a certificate confirming the deletion of data after the service is completed ?
Each provider of data removal / media destruction services should present a certificate confirming the correctness of the process carried out. In addition, the customer should receive:
– A list of media from which data has been removed, along with their serial numbers. If it is impossible to read barcodes, e.g. from a disk, it is necessary to present appropriate documentation (e.g. a photo) allowing for identification of the data carrier.
– Waste recycling card (in the case of physical destruction of carriers).