Computer Aid argues donating PCs can be safe
Howard Lake | 13 August 2006 | News
Computer Aid International has responded to today’s BBC news report which found that bank account details from thousands of Britons have been sold in Nigeria for less then £20 each, as a result of information held on the hard drive of recycled PCs not being deleted.
Tony Roberts, CEO of Computer Aid International, the world’s largest not-for-profit supplier of professionally refurbished computers to schools and community organisations in developing countries, wanted to reassure people and organisations who might be thinking again about donating or selling redundant or unwanted PCs after seeing the BBC news report.
He said that there is “a safe way of recycling redundant PCs, guaranteeing that information, personal or otherwise, is deleted for good and does not fall into the hands of criminals.”
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He explained that “Computer Aid International is the only UK charity that uses Blancco’s erasure solutions, which guarantee a 100% secure data destruction, up to government and military Communications Electronics Security Group (CESG) standards.
“They do this by overwriting every track, sector and cylinder of the hard disk, making recovery of the data impossible. Therefore, Computer Aid International is the only charity that can delete all information from a hard drive, for good.”
He gave three tips for those disposing of unwanted or redundant PCs:
1. Make sure that the organisation is CESG compliant – Computer Aid International’s refurbishment service is completely CESG compliant
2. Confirm what the organisation does with damaged hard drives – some damaged drives cannot be accessed and therefore cannot have all data wiped. All hard dives that cannot be wiped are destroyed by Computer Aid International onsite.
3. Confirm how the organisation transports and stores donated PCs – Computer Aid International collects all PCs directly from donors and ensures their safe keeping at its secure premises.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.