Best Practices for Secure Data Destruction and Disposal

Data has become the lifeblood of organisations worldwide today. The information it imparts can  influence key decisions for business leaders and CEOs related to marketing, innovation, growth, and many other areas, providing tangible evidence to guide strategic business direction. In the age of digitisation, connectivity, and growing AI influence, conversations around data integrity, security and ethics have only grown in frequency and importance.

With businesses holding an abundance of data on file nowadays, they must dutifully uphold the responsibility of ensuring its secure retention and disposal when no longer needed. CEOs and business decision-makers are often the focal point if an organisation is at the heart of poor data protection practices or, in extreme cases, a data breach. One of the most overlooked areas for secure data disposal is implementing data destruction policies.

Establishing clear data destruction and disposal processes ensures that all sensitive information relating to customers, stakeholders, accounts, intellectual property, partners, staff, and the organisation itself is properly discarded, to the point where it is irretrievable. Doing so may seem like an unnecessary procedure to implement, but it will ensure long-term compliance with industry regulations. It also preserves your brand’s reputation, ensuring archived sensitive data is not restored by someone who may use an old device such as a computer, mobile phone, tablet, hard drive, or other storage media. 

This short guide will explore why secure data disposal and destruction policies are important to establish, what they should include and other steps to ensure they preserve your business reputation and compliance.

The Importance of Secure Data Destruction and Disposal

Even though many organisations entrust reputable fully managed document storage platforms, cloud-based hosting and secure data centres to preserve their information and resources nowadays, that doesn’t mean that they should overlook an equipment and data disposal policy. No matter what data an organisation collects, uses, transfers, or stores, all businesses must ensure it – along with any redundant physical media – is properly destroyed and disposed of. 

What can happen if a business fails to uphold proper data etiquette when it’s no longer required?

1. Regulatory fines: If you fail to dispose of sensitive data on old storage media properly, and that data somehow gets restored and used in unlawful ways, you are breaching industry regulations and legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As such, the outcome can result in financial penalties and legal repercussions for your organisation. 

2. Data breach risk increases: Just because devices are thrown away doesn’t mean they are no longer susceptible to attacks by malicious actors. Improperly discarded data can fall into the wrong hands, meaning that if a bad actor were to discover logins or financial information, it could pave the way for a data breach which can further compromise active customer records, finances, and intellectual property.
   
3. Damaged customer trust: Should discarded data be restored and mishandled post-disposal, your business’s reputation faces increased pressure. If customers find that their data has been misused due to your lack of oversight and supervision of its disposal, their trust in your brand could fade away entirely. Take this recent example of a taxi dispatch system breach which saw nearly 300,000 passengers’ data exposed as proof that security matters. If you are tasked with addressing the matter publicly, a lack of transparency and accountability will only worsen the matter.

Best Practices for Secure Data Destruction and Disposal

It goes without saying that data is pivotal for organisations’ success, but only when it’s relevant and needed. When that data is redundant, for whatever reason, it’s vital to securely wipe devices and storage media clean of all data so that it’s no longer accessible. 

When determining the right methods and approaches for securely destroying data, consider a few essential factors.

1. Understand data classification: Firstly, categorise and classify the data pertinent to your organisation. For example, isolate specific data based on sensitivity (e.g. public, internal, confidential, restricted, etc.) or based on end-of-life value or media type. Be sure to consider all applicable regulatory or security frameworks that your company must adhere to. From this, you can determine the best destruction method.

2. Establish clear policies and procedures: Outline the roles, responsibilities and processes for disposing of and destroying data securely and ethically. Be sure to include procedures relevant to various media formats, such as data stored on paper documents, digital platforms, and physical media. Make sure that these policies are provided to every member of staff, are instantly accessible, and are regularly reviewed and updated accordingly. 

3. Deploy secure destruction techniques: There are several methods of destroying data on physical drives such as Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) or Solid-State Drives (SSDs), Processes like digital shredding or wiping overwrite data with binary code, while clearing is a tried-and-tested process for reusing devices throughout an organisation. Alternatively, degaussing (an ideal process for compromised devices) uses a strong magnetic field to rearrange the hard disk structure, making it unusable. As a last resort, mechanical or hydraulic crushing or shredding devices can render them unusable. In relation to paper documents, shredding or pulping is a reliable solution.
   
4. Document and monitor: Maintain detailed records of physical media you have discarded and destroyed. Make sure that activities and processes are regularly audited and reviewed for effectiveness and compliance.

5. Partner with trusted data destruction service providers: If in-house data destruction and disposal proves ineffective, consider partnering with a reputable third-party service provider specialising in secure data destruction.
   
6. Train and educate employees: Fundamentally, it’s crucial to educate employees on the importance of secure data disposal and provide regular training on proper handling and disposal methods. In light of evolving digital security risks, proper data hygiene minimises an organisation’s risk exposure and attack surface.

Data Destruction and Disposal: a Business Must-Have

As a CEO or business leader, prioritising secure data destruction and disposal practices should be more than just an obligatory tick-box exercise to satisfy regulators and stakeholders. It’s a strategic investment in your organisation to preserve your internal and external assets – most notably, your customers – while safeguarding your brand reputation in an age where data integrity is essential. 

Failing to exercise proper data destruction methods and uphold data hygiene opens you up to public scrutiny from customers who, on the whole, are taking security methods incredibly seriously, as this recent study from Deloitte highlights. However, don’t view it as an unnecessary obstacle; it’s an essential component in an overall strategy that looks to leverage data ethically to help organisations grow, scale, and expand.