Any data storage medium - paper, computer, copier, hard drive, tablet, smartphone - should be treated as if it contained protected data when it comes to disposal of that storage device. It's simply too easy for thieves to piece digital or analog data back together again and make use of the results for their own nefarious purposes. It's incumbent on all of us to make that task as difficult as possible, and it really doesn't take a lot of time.

Paper

Paper documents containing personally identifiable or confidential information (Level 1 or Level 2 Protected Data) MUST be shredded. Using standard office shredders is acceptable for documents other than those containing credit card account information. You'll find useful hints and tips on secure paper document destruction on our Paper Shredding page.

Electronic Media Disposal & Destruction

Details on how to implement secure electronic media disposal and destruction

HDD Reformat: In certain circumstances, such as in the case of on-campus intra-departmental transfers, a media drive may be reformatted to ensure no confidential data is accidentally carried over. Contact your ITC for more information. 

HDD Wiping (Non-SSD drives) : If a computer is being reassigned outside of the current administrative unit, all storage must be 3-pass wiped in accordance with DOD wipe procedures.

Solid State Drive Wiping (SSD):  Current methods of wiping hard drives are not effective on SSDs. Encrypt the hard drive using BitLocker, PGP Whole Disk, or File Vault 2 (Mac) (NOT True Crypt). When the drive is ready for retirement, simply delete the encryption key which leaves the drive inaccessible.

Labeling Wiped Storage Drives: When storage drives are wiped, even in the case of reassignment on campus, the drive must be reformatted or wiped and then labeled with the Certified Wiped Media Label. The person performing the wipe certifies and dates the label. If the hard drive cannot be removed, the label is affixed to the top exterior of the case.

Disposal of HSU-tagged property: A property management transaction form must be completed prior to disposal of all HSU computer property. Internal hard drives must be either wiped (and labelled) or removed and destroyed via secure e-waste.

Disposal of non-tagged property: Secure electronic waste, or e-waste, comprises items such as hard drives (wiped and labeled), USB drives, CDs, DVDs, optical disks, magnetic tapes, etc. To ensure the secure disposal of e-waste, please complete and submit a secure destruction e-waste collection and chain of custody form.

Hard Disk of any Printer/Copier and Deleting Data

A document scanned in COPIER, FAX OR SCANNER mode, or print data sent from a printer driver is temporarily stored on the machine's hard disk. Even after the job is completed, it remains on the hard disk as temporary data.

For the Laniers, to erase data after each job completion or disk erasure, an optional Data Overwrite Security unit is required. You can then use NSA, DoD, or random number erasure.

If you have a Lanier that will be disposed of, surplused, or sold back to Lanier you must delete the data on the hard drive and affix a Certified Wiped Media label. Please consult with the campus Security Officer and/or Lanier for more information.