According to various reports out there, the average British household owns over seven digital devices – with a YouGov poll showing smartphones were the most prolific, followed by laptops and then tablets. Seven out of 10 own at least one tablet, with one in five owning two and a further one in 10 having three or more. Three quarters of us own a smartphone and the same number have a laptop.
We’re using devices for everything from banking and financial transactions, to keeping in touch, making new friends, shopping and keeping up to date with current affairs. We spend the equivalent of a day a week glued to them. It’s fair to say many of us would be lost without them – personally and professionally!
But, of course, devices don’t last forever. Batteries start to go, applications become slow, contract renewals come round and a newer and better model hits the market. Some devices might get sold on if they’re still in demand, others lie around in drawers for years as ‘spares’ rarely seeing the light of day.
People often don’t give much thought to how they dispose of them – passing them on to someone else with a cursory wipe of data or eventually chucking it in the bin or at the tip.
On top of personal equipment, many of us have work phones, laptops and PCs for business purposes, which will also need replacing, often all too quickly.
Whether you’re a business or a consumer, disposing of your unwanted electronic devices in a safe and responsible way is vital – not just from a hugely important environmental perspective, but also from a data protection one. Did you know that even if you wipe your hard drive or device, clever criminals can still have the skills to access your data? Given how much of our lives we store online, that’s a worrying thought. And for businesses even more so – with the introduction of GDPR, it’s vital customer and employee data is kept secure, and a data breach from a carelessly disposed of laptop or USB could be costly in more ways than one.
Most people are aware of paper shredding – a simple and easy way to ensure your paper waste can’t be used for identity fraud purposes or reveal confidential information. But did you know your electronic waste can be shredded too?
At McCarthy’s Safe Shred we offer IT recycling services – or to give it its technical name – Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling. We can safely despose of your devices – be they smartphones, laptops, hard drives, CDs and USBs. After safely wiping your devices, we dispose of them securely in accordance with the WEEE Directive, providing you with a certificate of destruction and giving you peace of mind.
If you’re a business in need of assistance disposing of electronic devices, why not get in touch on 0113 262 4000?