Electronic Media Destruction
Electronic Records Disposal Best Practices
These are records management industry best practices. Technical questions about your software or hardware are best directed to an IT professional. State-owned hardware is managed by the Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) and is subject to IOT's PC Removal Policy (12-02). Questions? Get in touch: erecords@iara.in.gov.
Drives
Common examples: external hard drives, Solid State Drives (SSD), USB keys (aka flash drives, thumb drives, pen drives)
Destruction
Once all records have been properly disposed of in accordance with their retention period, the following methods of destruction are all acceptable: shredding; crushing; incineration, or recycling.
Drives which store confidential records should be disposed of by a reputable vendor via shredding, crushing, or incineration.
Retaining Records on Drives
It is not a best practice to retain records for any length of time on a USB key. USB keys are not designed for long-term storage and should be limited to temporary storage for transferring records or similar purposes.
When retaining records on external hard drives or SSDs it is a best practice to refresh the drives every 5-7 years. Select a reputable manufacturer for any drives you purchase. If the hard drive will be moved a significant amount it is a best practice to select an SSD. Please note that external hard drives of any sort are not meant to be used as a long-term storage solution.
Magnetic Disks
Common examples: floppy disks, Zip disks, disc cartridges
Destruction
Once all records have been properly disposed of in accordance with their retention period, the following methods of destruction are all acceptable: shredding; crushing; incineration, or recycling.
Disks which store confidential records should be disposed of by a reputable vendor via shredding, crushing, or incineration.
Retaining Records on Magnetic Disks
It is not a best practice to retain records on the common types of consumer disks listed in the examples above. They were not intended for long-term use, drives are difficult to come by, and often the files contained on the disks rely on obsolete software. If you need to retain the contents of a consumer grade disk, it is a best practice to work with a vendor to extract and possibly convert the contents into a sustainable file format and save to a secure, backed up location.
Magnetic Tape (Consumer Grade)
Common examples: audio cassettes, VHS tapes, U-Matic tapes, computer tape
Destruction
As long as there are no confidential records on the cassettes, the best practice is to recycle them. You can find recycling vendors using this tool: https://search.earth911.com/. Some vendors who specialize in cassette digitization may also be willing to recycle cassettes, but that is on a case-by-case basis. You can also look for local or nearby community recycling events that accept tape. https://tech-recyclers.com/ is one company that hosts these events.
If there are confidential records on the tapes, incineration or shredding by a reputable vendor is a best practice.
Retaining Records on Magnetic Tape
It is not a best practice to retain records on the common types of consumer magnetic tape listed in the examples above. They were not intended for long-term use, and players (used or new) can be difficult to source, making their contents difficult to access. If you need to retain the contents of a consumer grade magnetic tape, it is a best practice to convert them digital formats by using a reputable vendor that specializes in this and save any resulting files to a secure, backed up location.
Optical Media
Common Examples: CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray
Destruction
Once all records have been properly disposed of in accordance with their retention period, the following methods of destruction are all acceptable: shredding; crushing; incineration, or recycling.
Optical media which store confidential records should be disposed of by a reputable vendor via shredding, crushing, or incineration.
Retaining Records on Optical Media
It is not a best practice to retain records on optical media. They are not intended for long-term use and can become easily damaged (and unreadable). If you need to retain optical media contents, it is a best practice to either work with a vendor to extract files or, if you are able to, extract them yourself and save to a secure, backed up location.
Servers
Destruction
Once all records have been properly disposed of in accordance with their retention period, work with an IT professional to destroy the server.
Retaining Records on a Server
If you have records on a server that is no longer in active use, but need to continue to retain those records, the best practice is to migrate the records from the server either into a new system if you have one or to export them in a sustainable format (such as PDF or a CSV file) and save those exports to an active server or external hard drive (see Records on Drives for more). Unplugging a server is not a best practice and may lead to the contents of the server being inaccessible in the future. It is a best practice to speak with an IT professional prior to unplugging the server and putting it into storage in order to better assess the risks.
