Offsite vs. Onsite Data Destruction

Three primary methods of data destruction secure sensitive information from potential leaks. Overwriting, while the most cost-effective option, cannot always guarantee total protection. Degaussing, a process involving the disruption of hardware’s magnetic field, along with physical destruction provide the most secure approaches to Data Destruction. However, undergoing the destruction of data on one’s own provokes a number of risks and even potential legal transgressions. Companies certified to complete this process by state and federal standards can perform Data Destruction both onsite, at their client’s facility, or offsite, at their own. Both entail their own costs and benefits, and the selection of where to have data destroyed depends on personal need.

Offsite Data Destruction

With offsite destruction of data, hard drives and other relevant media are taken to a specific facility to either be physically destroyed or carefully degaussed. The advantages of choosing offsite destruction include:

• Decluttering the Workspace: Unwanted devices occupy space that could be used for the storage of new inventory. Retired hardware impedes productivity, and the professional transport of media to a warehouse quickly clears the space necessary for both workflow and storage. Data Destruction companies remove old devices from the work environment for offsite destruction, causing only marginal disturbance to daily business affairs.
• Security through Mixture: The shredded fragments of electronic devices are mixed with those of other, irrelevant media, complicating their recomposure and producing a slew of unusable debris. Some companies even allow for video surveillance of the process, allowing their clients visual proof that their data has been destroyed.
• Chain of Custody Documentation: Every person that handles hardware presents another layer of risk for compromise. Tracking the progression of hardware through a Data Destruction facility provides records of both every exchange between technicians and the completion of every procedural phase. At the end of the process, a Certificate of Destruction verifies that the targeted data has been destroyed in line with state and federal regulations.
• Affordability: Data Destruction companies require a fee for onsite destruction. Sending old devices to their facility instead waives this fee, making offsite destruction the more financially prudent option.

At the same time, however, offsite Data Destruction presents its own disadvantages.

• Time before Destruction: A number of unforeseeable problems can arise with the transport of devices to a separate facility. Delays caused by transport breakdowns, along with warehouse mismanagement, could result in extended stages of the process. The longer a device spends along the way to destruction, the higher the risk of information exposure. Additionally, even without setbacks devices may spend long amounts of time in warehouses before scheduled for destruction.
• Personnel Handling: Even with Chain of Custody documentation, sending electronic devices to a separate facility places responsibility in separate hands. There is no way to totally guarantee strict exposure to only trained and screened technicians. Companies may issue records of exchange, but the responsibility is nonetheless in their hands and no longer the client’s.
• Proof of Destruction: Not every Data Destruction company offers video proof that the process has been completed. Even with a Certificate of Destruction, there is no way to ensure that the targeted hardware has been destroyed.

Onsite Data Destruction

Onsite Data Destructions functions with the use of either mobile degaussers or vehicles transporting industrial shredders. As with offsite destruction, onsite allows for certain advantages, such as:

• Personal Supervision: When hardware is destroyed on client property, the entire process can be personally overseen. Data Destruction companies allow their clients to supervise the entire procedure, ensuring the security of each device throughout. At the completion of the process, the client has visual proof that the specific hardware has been destroyed and affirms that there has been no unnecessary exposure. A Certificate of Destruction, compounded by visual proof, ensures that the hardware has been demolished.
• Immediacy: Onsite Data Destruction occurs immediately upon arrival. There is no time spent processing and tracking the items, in storage, or scheduling the destruction. Both technicians and clients attend the devices throughout the short duration of shredding or degaussing. The vehicles will not leave until the devices have either been torn into fragments or magnetically wiped of information, processes which can often conclude within minutes.
• Simplicity of Steps / No Unnecessary Handling: Because the necessary machinery is brought onsite, there is no extraneous exchange between hands. The devices are given to technicians who immediately begin destruction. The reduction of the entire process promotes security by eliminating the additional steps that pose further risk. Although Chain of Custody documentation and video evidence can still ensue, they are more formality than precaution.

Again, albeit less so, onsite Data Destruction entails particular disadvantages:

• Expense: Companies servicing Data Destruction extract a fee for onsite erasure. For clients needing to limit costs, onsite destruction may present unnecessary financial drains that do not justify the security it promises.
• Disruption to the Work Environment: Whereas offsite destruction immediately removes hardware from the premises, onsite requires extended interaction throughout the process. This results in work time lost and consequently an impediment to productivity. Even though onsite Data Destruction occurs quickly, it nonetheless consumes more time than it would in an offsite location.

Between onsite and offsite Data Destruction, onsite guarantees higher security at a higher cost, while offsite quickly declutters the work environment by taking responsibility for the particular hardware. Neither method takes superiority, and the choice between each depends solely on both the needs and means of the client.

Regardless of the chosen method, it is vital to total security to select a Data Destruction company that exhibits compliance with both state and federal guidelines. Certifications from the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) verify that companies adhere to strict procedures of secure and ethical Data Destruction. Along with those from the Asset Disposal and Information Security Alliance (ADISA), NAID certifications guarantee that whether performed onsite or offsite, data will be destroyed to the degree of national standards.