I am composing this with a new computer. It is a netbook; not high-spec or expensive. But still, it is ideal in size and adequate for what i want it for and it does its job. My family has other computers, but the oldesr one, has been retired. We don't need it anymore, but dont exactly know what to do with the bloodything either. Its an ancient, sluggish model, but too good to just throw it out. We can give it to someone, but the documents on it need to be dealt with because they are mainly family snapshots, vids and personal info, such as passwords and bank details. Maybe the best way to solve this dilemma is some form of hard drive destruction followed by the passing down of the rest of the hardware to a new home.
Our situation is not rare. Nowadays, so many homes and businesses change computer hardware or complete machines more and more regularly. This is not just a shame but also a complete waste to dispose of the units purely due to the fear of the unformatted data ending up in the wrong hands. The best solution is relatively simple. Before you pass on hardware on to a new and loving home, where items like RAM, processors and VGA cards are perfectly capable of doing their job, deal with the destruction of the hard drive by whiping then totally destroying the units. New hard drive storage can be bought cheap enough and is available in many sizes to suit anyones wallet or requirements. It may appear a little selfish or uncharitable to give something away that cannot be used and has to have cash spent on it, but it is better than giving nothing. The likelihood of important and/or confidential data being misused is quite slim in the case of handed-down hardware, but the risk is still genuine. By just following a few simple steps in the procedure to safely dispose of the equipment will ensure that any personal or business files or other data cannot end up in the possession of those who wish to benefit from acquiring it. In addition, any recievers of free computer hardware should not feel hard done by if they need to spend little cash on a new hard drive.
In summary, even though we must all think about others in this world with an ever-increasing population, but we must also be careful to guard against the growing threat of the theft of immaterial and intangible, yet valuable, items connected to our lives or businesses with
hard drive destruction. Fifty years ago it would have been impossible to steal information in such a way, and twenty or thirty years ago probably useless to those who did so. Nonetheless, nowadays just a few details that are printed on a bill or stored on a Word document hiding away in ones hard drive can cause untold inconvenience and cost.
