How to Securely Channel Your Charitable Spirit with Data Erasure

While many enterprises still use data destruction methods such as shredding and grinding, there’s a better way. With the proper tools in place, enterprises can remove all data from no-longer-needed technology devices at end of life, saving them for secure reuse, often by recipients who desperately need them.

Farah Mithani A tech-focused writer and editor, Farah covered topics related to cloud security, software, and hardware while working at a Fortune 500 company. She then joined Blancco as content marketing specialist. In that role, she authored data management, data erasure, and IT asset lifecycle content while supporting Blancco’s social media and email channels.

We must move away from data destruction and rethink data disposal methods

The Financial Times recently published an article detailing how many big tech companies “shred tens of millions of data-storing units every year.” Yet, shredding processes can harbor chain-of-custody and implementation risks, leading to data vulnerabilities. The process of physically destroying old drives and computers also contributes to growing amounts of e-waste.

Instead of destroying millions of data storage devices once they reach end of life, these devices can be securely erased, forever removing all data.  Enterprises can then safely donate technology to schools or organizations in need—without worrying about their data ever getting into the wrong hands or prematurely contributing to landfill.

The intricacies of recycling vs. reuse

In our 2020 research study, The Rising Tide of E-Waste, we found that 35 percent of enterprises used physical destruction to sanitize end-of-life technology devices because IT leaders believed it was less risky and better for the environment. Of these, 46 percent thought the resulting components could be recycled or reused.

Yet only 20 percent of the 50 million tonnes of e-waste we produce each year is formally recycled. It’s also increasingly difficult to harvest components properly. So while it’s positive to see enterprise leaders wanting used hardware to be broken down to be recycled, physical destruction and recycling still produce unnecessary waste even though many devices are still functional.

Reuse is the way forward.

Ensure secure data sanitization with data erasure

Because all data is verifiably removed from across the device, data erasure streamlines device readiness for the circular economy without fear of sensitive data being extracted. It allows enterprises to guard against data vulnerabilities and comply with numerous data protection regulations. This, in turn, gives enterprises new-found freedom to donate goods for a good cause and often, benefit financially from tax incentives through their donations. 

Your enterprise’s used technology has the power to transform communities around the world.

How enterprises can give back

Because data erasure ensures that no data remains on technology devices, enterprises can safely donate their used enterprise computers and devices to the charities that can put them to good use. There are many worthwhile charities or causes that can use laptops or PCs no longer needed by enterprises.

Leveraging data erasure not only prevents massive amounts of e-waste and environmental devastation, it also provides an opportunity to help underserved communities.

Charitable giving: finding the right fit

When looking for the right organization to work with, it’s important to consider if the organization can use your enterprise’s end-of-life technology, if the organization’s purpose and operations work synergistically with your corporate goals, and if both you and the organization place the same level of importance on data security and sustainability.

How Blancco supports charities

We are proud to support worthwhile organizations as we work toward allowing for end-of-life technology devices to be securely erased and reused within underserved communities.

Blancco software licenses and skills training have allowed organizations to provide thousands of fully functional, data-free, enterprise-donated computers to disadvantaged populations on four continents. Here’s how:

• WANdisco “Laptops for Kids”—When COVID-19 disrupted traditional schooling, forty percent of Northern England schools lacked the devices to educate children at home. As part of a multi-business effort, Blancco enabled software company WANdisco to sanitize more than 2,600 donated enterprise computers for distribution to schools and families. The initiative also trained college students on sanitization processes, providing valuable work experience.
• Turing Trust—Turing Trust refurbishes used computers to facilitate “technology-enabled education” and teacher training in sub-Saharan Africa. Donated devices are reclaimed with a focus on data security and a desire to reduce electronic waste. More than 2,300 devices have been successfully erased using Blancco software, increasing student education and career opportunities.   
• Ethan Indigenous—In Australia, Blancco’s data erasure licenses ensure that refurbished devices are safely and securely donated to schools and communities to upskill youth for professional career pathways in IT. Blancco and Ethan Indigenous also upskill Indigenous cadets to help with the refurbishment process, training them on how to perform certified data erasure on donated devices.  
• Dairu Foundation—An estimated four million children in Vietnam lack the computing devices needed to adapt to online schooling. To meet this need, increase digital literacy, and facilitate online education, Blancco joined forces with The Dairu Foundation to provide 70 rural schools and 2,000 disadvantaged children with free-of-charge rentals of donated laptops and desktops.
• Computers for Community—Computers for Community supplies non-profits with Blancco-sanitized laptops from top enterprise businesses. These non-profits serve school children in developing countries; U.S. veterans globally; those exiting homelessness, addiction, and abuse; and elderly groups focused on digital literacy.
• LiteHaus International—LiteHaus helps students of the Asia Pacific region get a digital education. Thanks to enterprise computer donations, it refurbishes old computers, sanitizes the data from them, and distributes them to schools and students. LiteHaus’s work has benefitted more than 100,000 people to date.
• Salvation Army Trading Company, Ltd.—SATCoL’s IT Reuse scheme provides a UK hub for businesses to donate excess, returned, or faulty computers and mobile devices that can be reused, repurposed, or recycled. Working together with brand partners, local authorities and schools, SATCoL gives old computers new life, reselling them to raise funds for charity and provide affordable technology to the community.

Donating your enterprise computers

Your enterprise’s used technology has the power to transform communities around the world. Contact any of these organizations to donate devices in a secure, sustainable way.

And, if you’re wanting to donate your used enterprise computers to a different charitable group, make sure that organization uses a secure data erasure solution, such as Blancco’s, that maintains the functionality of the device while removing all data. This step should be verified and then confirmed with a tamper-proof certificate of erasure.

You may be interested in:

Drive Destruction vs. Data Erasure: Which Data Disposal Method is Most Secure?

Erasing Vs. Deleting: Are Your ‘Deleted’ Files Truly Gone?

[Vendor Guide] Choosing a Data Erasure Vendor for Your Organization’s Used Computers, Loose Drives and Other Data Storage Devices

Financial Services Firm Unifies & Transforms Data Hygiene Practices with Secure Erasure | Blancco Case Study