October 2024: How to securely dispose of personal electronic devices

Hello all,

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so I'll be sharing not only our monthly tip - but weekly tips on keeping your digital life safe.  These will be tips that can help you against many of the threats to our privacy and security, whether at work, school, or in your personal life.

Securely disposing of personal electronic devices

Many of us have lots of electronic devices, cell phones, laptops, desktops, game consoles, and more.  Some of those may contain sensitive personal information on them that you wouldn't want public (emails, past texts, pictures, not to mention applications which may be connected to personal accounts which may have even more information).

It is important, before getting rid of a device, to ensure that the data on your device is wiped (or otherwise made unrecoverable).

There are a ton of different device types, so we can't give specific guidance for all of these, there are some common ones we can provide resources for.

Note: The guidance below is for personal devices.  Do not perform these steps on a university issued laptop.  If you've lost a university issued device, please contact our Service Desk as soon as possible after it is lost.

If you're doing this before you sell, trade, give away, or recycle a device:

• Android or iPhone: Wired Magazine: How to Factory-Reset Your Phone Before You Sell It

• Apple Computers: Apple: What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac

• Microsoft Computers:

  • Microsoft: Before you sell or gift your Xbox or Windows PC

  • Dell: How Do I Erase Data from My Hard Drive

  • Lenovo: How can I secure erase a solid state drive (SSD)?

If your device is lost or stolen

• iPhone: Apple: Erase a device in Find Devices on iCloud.com

• Android: Find, secure, or erase a lost Android device

Unfortunately, wiping a lost or stolen device isn't always a sure bet.  If your cell phone or computer was lost or stolen, you will want to make sure to change your password on any account that was connected to the lost or stolen device (for example, if your device was connected to your social media accounts, bank account, your personal email, and your New Paltz email, you will want to change all of those passwords as soon as possible).

Safely (from an environmental standpoint) disposing of your devices

This email only really touches on the aspect of securely disposing of devices from the standpoint of your personal data.  Ulster County has a page about electronics recycling at https://ucrra.org/recyclopedia-search/e-waste/ (since you shouldn't just throw computers, cell phones, or other electronics devices in the trash for environmental reasons).