Why Shred Your Old Laptop?

As with any piece of hardware, laptops have a finite lifespan, lasting between 3 to 5 years, after which their effective utility starts to decline. Naturally, you perform an upgrade at that point, replacing it with a new one. However, then the question arises – what to do with the old laptop? Should you sell it? Absolutely not! Here is why to shred your old laptop instead.

Privacy and Storage Drives

Over time, in your laptop’s storage drives, a lot of private data would have accumulated, such as your photos, passwords, records, and other such confidential information. Obviously, you don’t want any of it to be accessed by any unauthorized third-party.

So, there lies the issue with selling the laptop instead of shredding it because even if you format the drive, the data actually doesn’t get destroyed, merely is rendered unreadable.  

This means that any criminal technologically savvy enough can still retrieve it and exploit it for their own ends, particularly to commit identity fraud. In the U.S, each year, a staggering 14.4 million people fall victim to this crime.

But wait, there’s more…

You Yourself Could Get on the Wrong Side of the Law

Specifically, this is a risk for business owners. If a laptop had stored any confidential information on your customers and it got leaked, you could be subject to hefty fines and legal liabilities.

Even if you don’t tend to sell your old hardware inventory and instead keep it locked away, the risk isn’t as much diminished as you might think. Insider data breaches are a rising concern. It can be hard, if not impossible, to completely foolproof against any unauthorized access to your old equipment. The best course of action is to have it destroyed.  

Why Not Just Destroy It Myself?

A single personal laptop? Sure, it will take some time, but it is manageable. But, if there are tens or hundreds of them, as is the case when your business replaces its old inventory, then it’s much better to call in professionals who can perform the job for you in minutes and in complete compliance with the U.S regulatory framework governing hardware destruction. This is so you don’t risk incurring any fines or liabilities.

Hire Us for Your Laptop Shredding Needs

New jersey Shredding is a professional hardware destruction company providing its services in Hoboken and most of the other major cities in the state of New Jersey. If you are interested in a proper yet affordable solution to your business’s hardware shredding needs, feel free to visit our website. For a free quote, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling on our number – (201) 371 5900.