Data Sanitization

Studies have shown that used computers are being sold into the secondary market with hard disk drives containing a wealth of personal information. Consider that the hard drives of your old computers may contain anything from business transactions, medical information, banking information, social security and credit card numbers to sensitive personal files, e-mail and traces of your Internet activity. Deleting these files, or even formatting the hard disk, is not sufficient to prevent the recovery of information using widely available basic recovery programs.

With this in mind, Argosy E-cycling assures either the physical destruction of your hard drive or utilizes data destruction software in strict compliance with U.S. Department of Defense standards as recommended in the DoD 5220.22-M Clearing and Sanitization Matrix for hard disk sanitization. This multi-pass specification dictates a verified multiple overwrite of every single user sector of the hard drive using specific data patterns. In other words, every bit of information is overwritten and destroyed beyond recovery.

Argosy E-cycling firmly believes that private information is simply too important to gamble with, and releasing used computers into the world without first destroying their data is an unacceptable risk. Although there is a nominal cost involved in sanitizing hard drives, recovering from the consequences of data theft is certain to be a far more painful affair.

Environmental Protection

As we become more dependent on electronic products to make life more convenient, the stockpile of used, obsolete products continues to grow. The National Safety Council projects that nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years and mobile phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per year by 2005. Ecycling is reusing or recycling of these consumer electronics.

Computer monitors and older TV picture tubes contain an average of four pounds of lead and require special handling at the end of their lives. In addition to lead, electronics can contain chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc, and brominated flame retardants. When electronics are not disposed of or recycled properly, these toxic materials can present problems. Extending the life of your electronics or donating your most up-to-date and working electronics can save you money and saves valuable resources. Safely recycling outdated electronics can promote the safe management of hazardous components and supports the recovery and reuse of valuable materials.

However, the electronics recycling industry does have a dark side -- it is reported that more than 50 percent of recycled electronics are shipped overseas, where the toxic components of "the effluent of the affluent" are polluting poor and rural communities. We make every attempt to use certified recyclers that DO NOT EXPORT to underdeveloped nations.

Serving The Community

Argosy E-cycling believes we can run a successful and environmentally friendly company and give something back to the community. Protecting our customers from data theft ensuring that all obsolete electronics are properly disposed of are two of our key operating principles. However, Argosy strives to do more. We donate a portion of our refurbished computers to the less fortunate. Finally, we provide an opportunity for your organization to make money through our special event fund raising programs.
Become part of this rewarding experience, call (916) 313-5742.