Coreitech provides NIST 800-88 & HMG IS5 certified data destruction across the UK — software erasure, physical shredding, and degaussing. Certificate of destruction per asset. GDPR compliant. Call 0203 834 9728.
CERTIFIED
DATA DESTRUCTION
UNITED KINGDOM
Permanent, evidenced data destruction to NIST 800-88 and HMG IS5 standards. Certificate of data destruction issued for every asset. UK GDPR compliant. Covers all media types — HDDs, SSDs, NVMe, tape, and mobile devices.
Four certified data
destruction methods
Certified Software Erasure
NCSC and NIST 800-88 compliant overwrite using Blancco or equivalent. Every pass is logged. Certificate of erasure issued per drive with serial number, method, date, and operative.
Physical Hard Drive Shredding
Industrial shredding of HDDs, SSDs, and legacy media to CESG destruction standard. Witnessed shredding available. Bag-sealed shred with per-asset destruction certificate.
Cryptographic Erasure
For self-encrypting drives (SED) and full-disk encrypted devices, cryptographic key deletion renders all data permanently inaccessible. Fastest method for modern SSDs.
Degaussing
High-powered magnetic degaussing for legacy magnetic media — LTO, DLT, DAT tapes, and older HDDs. Effective on all magnetic media regardless of encryption or format.
All digital media types covered
Why certified data destruction
is a GDPR obligation
Under UK GDPR Article 5(1)(f), personal data must be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security, including protection against unauthorised processing. When disposing of IT equipment, this obligation extends to ensuring data is permanently and verifiably destroyed.
The ICO's guidance on erasure (Right to Erasure / Article 17) makes clear that simply deleting files does not satisfy the destruction requirement — the underlying storage must be securely erased or physically destroyed. Any data recoverable from disposed equipment constitutes a potential data breach under Article 33.
Coreitech's certified data destruction service provides the documented evidence required by the ICO: per-asset destruction certificates that include method, standard applied, date, and operative name. These satisfy both internal audit requirements and external regulatory investigations.
Important: If you transfer assets to a third party for disposal without documented destruction, your organisation remains the data controller and retains full liability under UK GDPR for any subsequent data breach.
Certificate of data destruction — what it includes
Data destruction
questions answered
Q.What is certified data destruction?
Certified data destruction is the permanent, documented destruction of data on digital storage media in accordance with recognised standards such as NIST 800-88, HMG IS5, or CESG/NSA shredding specifications. "Certified" means each asset receives a formal certificate confirming the destruction method used, the asset serial number, the date, and the operative responsible. This certificate is required for UK GDPR compliance and ICO audit purposes.
Q.What data destruction standard does Coreitech use?
Coreitech uses NIST 800-88 Rev.1 for software-based erasure (Clear and Purge levels), HMG IS5 Baseline and Enhanced for UK government-adjacent work, and CESG physical destruction specifications for shredding. The method selected depends on the asset type, condition, and the client's data classification requirements.
Q.Is reformatting or factory reset sufficient to destroy data?
No. A standard format or factory reset does not securely destroy data. Data recovery tools freely available online can restore files from a formatted drive in minutes. Secure data destruction requires either certified software erasure (multiple overwrite passes to NIST or HMG standards) or physical destruction (shredding or degaussing). Only these methods provide the evidential standard required for GDPR compliance.
Q.What certificate do I receive for data destruction?
Coreitech issues a Certificate of Data Destruction for every asset processed. This document includes: asset description and serial number, make/model, destruction method used, date of destruction, and the name of the engineer responsible. For batch disposals, a consolidated report is provided alongside individual asset-level certificates. These documents satisfy ICO audit requirements and are accepted by cyber insurance underwriters.
Q.Does data destruction cover SSDs differently from HDDs?
Yes. SSDs require a different approach to HDDs due to wear-levelling and overprovisioned storage. Standard overwrite methods effective on HDDs cannot guarantee full erasure on SSDs. For SSDs, Coreitech uses either cryptographic erasure (where the drive supports it), manufacturer-level secure erase commands (ATA Secure Erase), or physical shredding to ensure data is 100% irrecoverable.
Q.How much does data destruction cost in the UK?
Data destruction costs depend on volume and asset type. Software erasure for end-user devices (laptops, desktops) is typically included in ITAD collection packages from £199. Physical hard drive shredding (drives only, not full devices) starts at £5–£15 per drive depending on volume. Data centre storage arrays and tape library destruction are scoped individually. Contact Coreitech for a fixed-price quote.
Need certified data destruction?
Free quote, UK-wide collection, per-asset certificates of destruction. Compliant with UK GDPR, ICO guidance, and NIST 800-88.