This is a potentially complicated question.  Computers 4 Africa routinely runs a secure datawipe on all of the computers it receives.  We overwrite the entire hard drive with a pseudo-random pattern of numbers that makes it impossible for data to be recovered.  However, if you are enquiring on behalf of an organisation, there may be a set standard of secure data erase that you need to adhere to, and this standard may differ from our own.  In addition, some home users may prefer the security of knowing that you securely erased all of the information from your PC’s hard drive yourselves rather than simply taking our word for it- particularly when you have a lot of personal information on there.

For this reason, Computers 4 Africa does two things:  Firstly, we recommend that you take a look at our “Donor Information” pages regarding data wiping and look into the idea of running your own secure data erase to whatever standard you prefer before donating equipment to us- there is a link provided to a data wiping program that we think is trustworthy- and secondly we ourselves offer the additional service of a certified data wipe.

Our certified data wipe can be carried out to any specification (you specify) and records will be taken of the date on which the equipment was donated, the date and time at which the data erase was carried out, the specification used, the serial number and C4A tracking number of the equipment, the name of the person responsible for carrying out the data wipe and any other details you require.  Unfortunately, due to the administrative burden involved we will have to charge for this to be carried out; the details of the charge will depend on the exact specification of datawipe required, though bulk discounts will be available.

Any hard drives that cannot be fully data wiped for whatever reason (surface errors, other faults causing the data wipe to fail) will be destroyed and recycled, and a certificate of destruction obtained.