What really happens to the data on decommissioned hardware within your organization?
The importance of guarantees, proof, and a professional data destruction partner.
A data breach is one of the biggest PR nightmares for organizations. Customer data, patient records, sensitive business information, and even personal employee data are all at stake. Data carriers—not just in laptops and desktops, but also in smartphones, tablets, server blades, and more—hold vast amounts of valuable information. These devices are so advanced that data destruction must be thorough, using the latest technologies.
Which is why the question arises: what really happens to decommissioned hardware within your organization? Is there a storage room somewhere where these devices are simply left, waiting for whatever comes next? Do employees take their old smartphones home after decommissioning? Or are all devices processed by a professional partner in accordance with laws and regulations, with documented proof of the data destruction process stored in your records?
Laws and regulations
Organizations are, among other things, legally required under the GDPR to protect the personal data of employees and customers with great care. For medical and financial institutions, this is especially critical. Identity theft is one of the potential consequences of a data breach and can be a nightmare for victims, with far-reaching consequences. By properly destroying the data on decommissioned hardware—guaranteed and with a destruction certificate for each device—you ensure that your customers, employees, and other sensitive information are 100% protected.
Certainty
Data destruction can take place in two ways:
- Software-based – the data carriers are given a second life > most sustainable / low CO2 impact.
- Physical – the data carriers end up as e-waste > materials are reused as much as possible / higher CO2 impact.
Software-based
With the right software, sensitive data is permanently destroyed with a 100% safety guarantee. Reuzado uses Blancco software for this purpose and has been a Blancco Gold partner for years—a premium status within Blancco. This choice of software partner was made very deliberately. International organizations such as NATO, TÜV, Common Criteria (linked to dozens of governments), and even our own AIVD recognize Blancco as a trusted partner in data destruction.Blancco is top of the line both technologically (as devices become smarter, data destruction software must constantly stay up-to-date) and in terms of management and ease of use. The great advantage of this choice is that devices are suitable for a second life, which not only generates residual value but also positively impacts the CO2 footprint of your IT infrastructure. Re-use is always the most sustainable choice.Reuzado has both the right network for this next step and the software to provide CO2 reporting for your CSRD/ESG reports!
Physical
Do the data carriers in your organization need to be physically destroyed? Even then, it’s important to know how this process is carried out and to what size (minuscule?) the drives are shredded. Reuzado operates according to the DIN 66399 standard, class 5. Additionally, we are Weeelabex certified, which means that our waste streams are recycled as thoroughly as possible, including through our downstream partners.With this option, we also provide a report detailing the amount of materials suitable for reuse and the quantity that is sent directly to residual waste.
At home or off-site?
Finally, consider the phase before the actual destruction: where does it take place, and how do the devices get there? Reuzado offers two options: at your location using our advanced mobile facility, or at our secure warehouse. Whatever you choose, we ensure guaranteed security from the moment you decide to have your decommissioned hardware processed through us. Even the collection of devices in locked roll containers at your premises, through to their transport to our facility, is handled via a secure process.
A secure IT policy goes beyond usage protocols; even in the final phase, your organization remains responsible for security. Until you transfer it to Reuzado, your decommissioned hardware is in the best hands—backed by guarantees and certificates!