Hemplan offer a data protection certification service where we ensure that the hard drive of the machine is destroyed or securely erased to at least DoD 5220-22-M standard (which is a seven pass wipe) (depending on your requirements).

Simply deleting the files is not enough, as this only removes the shortcuts to the files making them invisible to users. Deleted files still reside on the hard drive and a quick Google search will show many options for system recovery software, which will allow anyone to reinstate that data.

Formatting the hard drive is a bit more secure than simply erasing the files. Formatting a disk does not erase the data on the disk, only the address tables. It makes it much more difficult to recover the files. However a computer specialist would be able to recover most or all the data that was on the disk before the reformat.

This method of deletion is fine for most circumstances--where security is not an issue--but you wouldn't want some people to recover your financial statements or medical records. For sensitive data, you need to make sure that your computer overwrites both the links to the information and the information itself.

See this article on why secure data wiping is essential for your security -  http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/diskdrives.html also see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17827562

For a more secure option we offer the secure data wipe service for peace of mind