That’s a fair point, as I guess with your own PC at home you can pop into the back garden and smash the hard drive into pieces! Making sure of course that you separate all the materials afterwards and dispose of them properly.

In many cases the best way to dispose of an old hard drive is simply to destroy it, but if you’re a business then you need a record that the destruction has taken place!

Maybe you have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of old computers and hard drives, each came into your company with a serial number linked to a hard copy printed invoice, so each drive needs to go out of your company with the serial number printed on a note of disposal.

As a business, you need the paperwork to prove that an authorised company such as SDR has disposed of your old hard drives and computers, to ensure that you are fully covered for data protection and the department of the environment.

Remember, the penalties for not complying with the Government’s rules and regulations can be very severe, fines can run into hundreds of thousands.