Properly Recycling Computers Keeps Your Identity Safe
Sometimes you keep a computer for a number of years, painstakingly getting it upgraded and repaired when necessary. Other times you change computers as fast as you upgrade your cell phone. When you’re ready to get rid of your computer you then run into the same problem everyone else does: what do you do with your old computer? It can be tempting to just throw it in the trash but there are a few problems with this. The first is that most garbage disposal locations don’t take electronic devices, or only take them on specific days of the year. Even if you can dispose of your device there, you probably shouldn’t. What you should do if you want to keep your identity safe is check out a computer recycling center.
Identity Theft
Identity theft is a huge problem in the United States. It’s estimated that in 2016 the cost of identity theft reached the ridiculous level of $16 billion dollars. We’re definitely making it fairly easy for thieves to get our identity. Everything now is online. We buy clothes, do our banking, pay our bills - everything we do is online. This gives thieves the information that they need to assume your identity or to sell it in the deep web. If you were to simply dump your old computer anywhere, there is a much higher chance that thieves will get a hold of the computer and then your identity is compromised.
Computer Recycling Center in San Diego
Before you get rid of your computer, backup all of your files on an external hard drive, or connect your old computer directly to your new one and back your files up there. Keep in mind that you can’t just “delete” your files. Even if you put them in the trash bin and hit “empty”, the files are still accessible by someone who knows what they’re doing. Some people have even thought that maybe they could take the hard drive out and smash it with a hammer. Believe it or not, information might still be accessible even at that point! Hard drive shredding is one of the best ways to ensure that your identity stays safe. The right computer recycling center in San Diego will be able to thoroughly remove all parts and wipe all the information clean so that you never have to worry about your identity being stolen when you get a new computer.
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