At www.saferec.at MGG Metran offers a new service for all private individuals and SMEs: data carriers such as hard disks, smartphones or notebooks can be destroyed easily and securely. For customers, this means low costs with maximum security.
Data security. This buzzword is a recurring theme in modern life. After all, data is the new gold, as futurologists have discovered. If you think about data security for a moment, a few questions will probably soon come to mind: How secure are my personal data? On which devices are my data stored everywhere? What happens to my data? Can data be irretrievably deleted or destroyed?
Open questions for SMEs
Similar questions are also being asked in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where solutions are being sought to securely erase data and destroy data media. Simply disposing of data carriers in electronic waste is definitely not a solution: Time and again, data from the recycling cycle appears in unwanted places (see also: https://mgg-recycling.com/behind-the-smart-world-2/). Online platforms are used in some cases to offer and sell spare parts such as hard disks, data storage devices or even entire devices such as notebooks, mobile phones etc. containing sensitive and often highly personal data. This is a good opportunity for criminals to get their hands on the „new gold“ – often with very unpleasant surprises for those involved.
How do you deal with data?
Since 25 May 2018, the European Union has had very clear rules: On this day, the Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) finally took full effect. It regulates the protection of personal data within the EU. It contains defined rules that specify how long data may be stored and when they are to be deleted/destroyed. The DSGVO made many people – including many (small) entrepreneurs and self-employed persons – aware of the often lax handling of data and important information.
Large companies (e.g. banks, insurance companies) and public institutions have decades of experience in having files – formerly in paper form, now as data carriers – destroyed on a large scale. Today, specialist companies set up security containers for this purpose on site, which are filled and then collected. The data carriers contained are then shredded and the stored data are demonstrably destroyed.
Search for a simple solution
„However, this approach only works for larger companies,“ knows Daniel Forstner, from Innovation Management in the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group, all too well. „For small companies and individual entrepreneurs, there is no really convenient solution as yet. Therefore, they are often looking for a simple way to have their hard disks, memory cards etc. destroyed in an uncomplicated but safe way“. MGG Metran, together with its two partners Saferec AG and Swiss Post, now offers exactly such a procedure: a simple way for end customers to have data media securely destroyed. With the certificate issued in the process, customers ultimately hold proof in their hands that they comply with the DSGVO regulations. The best thing about this service: the data medium is not only destroyed, but also recycled. In this way you not only comply with the data protection regulations, but also contribute to environmental protection.
How saferec.at works
It works that simple: Via the online platform www.saferec.at you specify which data carriers (hard disks, laptops, smartphones, PCs, etc.) are to be destroyed. The service is ordered and – as usual in online shops – paid for in a secure way. The customer is then sent all the relevant documents by e-mail – including the delivery papers, which have an individual QR code. Together with the printed delivery documents, the data carriers to be destroyed are then sent to MGG Metran.
Using Swiss Post’s Track and Trace service, it is possible to track the parcel’s route to the MGG Metran factory. When the parcel arrives at MGG Metran in Kematen, the data carrier is removed and destroyed. In the course of the process, the QR code on the delivery papers is scanned, and the customer receives an e-mail with the certificate for the destruction of the data carrier.
Data carrier shredded to 15 millimetres
Incidentally, the data carriers to be destroyed are shredded in two stages in the shredding plant. The parts are then a maximum of 15 mm in size. These are then mixed to other shredded e-scrap parts and separated into pure material fractions (aluminium, copper, stainless steel, plastic) in the following recycling steps. The processed material can then be used again in new products. Daniel Forstner is sure: „This service is a real benefit for end customers. Without much effort, one can be sure that the stored data will not appear anywhere – and at the same time one has the absolute certainty that the hardware will be recycled professionally“.