Technology Equipment Disposal Policy

Technology Equipment Disposal Policy

1. Overview

Technology equipment often contains parts which cannot simply be thrown away. Proper disposal of equipment is both environmentally responsible and often required by law.

In addition, hard drives, USB drives, CD-ROMs and other storage media contain various kinds of Wealthy data, some of which is considered sensitive. In order to protect our constituent’s data, all storage mediums must be properly erased before being disposed of.

However, simply deleting or even formatting data is not considered sufficient. When deleting files or formatting a device, data is marked for deletion, but is still accessible until being overwritten by a new file. Therefore, special tools must be used to securely erase data prior to equipment disposal.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define the guidelines for the disposal of technology equipment and components owned by Wealthy.

3. Scope

This policy applies to any computer/technology equipment or peripheral devices that are no longer needed within Wealthy including, but not limited to:

All Wealthy employees and affiliates must comply with this policy.

4. Policy

4.1 Technology Equipment Disposal

1. End of Life: When technology assets have reached the end of their useful life they should be sent to the Equipment Disposal Team (EDT) office for proper disposal.

2. Secure Erasure: The EDT will securely erase all storage mediums in accordance with current industry best practices.

3. Data Removal: All data including all files and licensed software shall be removed from equipment using disk sanitizing software that cleans the media overwriting each and every disk sector of the machine with zero-filled blocks, meeting Department of Defense standards.

4. No Direct Sales: No computer or technology equipment may be sold to any individual other than through the processes identified in this policy (Section 4.2 below).

5. Proper Disposal Methods: No computer equipment should be disposed of via skips, dumps, landfill, etc. Electronic recycling bins may be periodically placed in locations around Wealthy. These can be used to dispose of equipment. The Equipment Disposal Team will properly remove all data prior to final disposal.

6. Drive Sanitization: All electronic drives must be degaussed or overwritten with a commercially available disk cleaning program. Hard drives may also be removed and rendered unreadable (drilling, crushing or other demolition methods).

7. Computer Equipment Definition: Computer Equipment refers to desktop, laptop, tablet or netbook computers, printers, copiers, monitors, servers, handheld devices, telephones, cell phones, disc drives or any storage device, network switches, routers, wireless access points, batteries, backup tapes, etc.

8. Verification: The EDT will place a mark on the equipment case indicating the disk wipe has been performed with name and signature of person who performed the wipe.

9. Non-functioning Storage: Technology equipment with non-functioning memory or storage technology will have the memory or storage device removed and it will be physically destroyed.

4.2 Employee Purchase of Disposed Equipment

1. Availability: Equipment which is working, but reached the end of its useful life to Wealthy, will be made available for purchase by employees.

2. Lottery System: A lottery system will be used to determine who has the opportunity to purchase available equipment.

3. Fair Process: All equipment purchases must go through the lottery process. Employees cannot purchase their office computer directly. This ensures that all employees have an equal chance of obtaining equipment.

4. Pricing: Finance and Information Technology will determine an appropriate cost for each item.

5. Final Sales: All purchases are final. No warranty or support will be provided with any equipment sold.

6. Donation: Any equipment not in working order or remaining from the lottery process will be donated or disposed of according to current environmental guidelines. Information Technology has contracted with several organizations to donate or properly dispose of outdated technology assets.

7. Inventory Removal: Prior to leaving Wealthy premises, all equipment must be removed from the Information Technology inventory system.

5. Policy Compliance

5.1 Compliance Measurement

The Infosec team will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.

5.2 Exceptions

Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Infosec team in advance.

5.3 Non-Compliance

• An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

• A violation of this policy by a temporary worker, contractor or vendor may result in the termination of their contract or assignment with Wealthy.

• Any program code or application that is found to violate this policy must be remediated within a 90 day period.