With the holiday season approaching and a new year dawning, companies may be planning to implement new computer systems and to upgrade their electronic equipment. If so, what should they do with the old equipment? The perfect solution may be to refurbish or recycle them for use by teachers, schools, nonprofits, community programs and other individuals in need. Some non-profit organizations specifically formed for recycling and redistributing this equipment will pick up unwanted computer items at little or no cost. Donating these digital devices may even warrant a charitable tax deduction. While donating (or selling) old laptops, computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants, and other equipment may seem to result in a win-win situation for all, if the proper precautions are not taken, it can raise security red flags. Companies must ensure confidential and proprietary data stored on these systems is completely removed before they are donated. After all, "delete does not mean delete" in the electronic world, and companies cannot risk cyber-attacks on their private information or even worse their clients data due to improper sterilization of a hard drive. If your company is planning to donate old equipment, even if only to its own employees, consider swapping out the hard drive before recycling the hardware.

Removing a hard drive from a computer before donating it is the most effective way to ensure your data will not fall into the wrong hands. An obvious drawback is that many entities accepting these donations may not have the budget or resources to install new drives in the old machines. Alternatively, companies may choose to wipe the hard drive using commercially available data wiping software programs. This software can be used to intentionally overwrite data using a specific or randomly generated pattern of characters. If run properly, a wiping utility will make the data unrecoverable. Be aware that in some instances, even when the product is run according to the product's instructions, traces of data may be left behind. In many cases, it may be prudent to have an expert handle the wiping process. Even though many wiping utilities are highly successful, most are not completely fool-proof and the use of such products may require some expertise to ensure all the data is properly destroyed.
Finding new ways to use old tech products through recycling can benefit a company as well as individuals and entities receiving and reusing these products. By keeping security in mind before donating this equipment, companies will turn an old piece of equipment into the perfect solution for someone in need.