July 12
The mountain of electronics we have and eventually need to get rid of is always growing. The need to dispose of old electronics like cellphones and tvs as well as computer hardware in laptops and desktops shows no sign of slowing. As technology evolves faster and faster, old gadgets and devices head to garbage bins and landfills. The good news is, in the interest of protecting the environment, many of these devices can be recycled. But that does present some challenges with regards to how to minimize the amount of e-waste we produce as well as the impact and threat to our sensitive information. When you drop-off an old computer for e-cycling, what information is still on the hard drive inside it? Contacts, photos, tax information, and more personal data. Disposing of electronics and cutting down on e-waste by recycling is a necessary part of modern life but not at the expense of your data security.
The movement to promote E-cycling is strong in Ontario, Canada. A provincial government initiative to encourage e-waste recycling and make it as convenient as possible to recycle has taken off. Helmed by the Ontario Electronic Stewardship, industry partners and local businesses are helping make e-cycling happen.
Check out this promo video about drop-off locations:
Popular tech media personality and host Amber Mac mentions wiping devices of personal data before dropping them off at e-cycling locations. So how can you protect your sensitive information from things like desktop PC hard drives and externals? Delete the data with CBL Data Shredder, our free download utility that you can use to wipe drives before sending them away to e-cycling. You can find out more about Data Shredder here.
Also check out the informative infographics on http://ecyclepledge.recycleyourelectronics.ca
Category: helpful hints
Tags: data deletion, data security, data shredder, erase data, recycled computers, wiping
