New European General Data Protection Regulation: Secure data erasure process via CHG-MERIDIAN

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on May 25, 2018 and will tighten the rules on storing personal data. The new data protection legislation will apply not only to companies within the European Union, but also to non-EU companies that store and/or process personal data of EU citizens. With its eraSURE® solution, CHG-MERIDIAN offers a certified, non-captive process for erasing data from laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even printers, photocopiers, and multifunction printers.

GDPR addresses aspects such as storing and processing personal data. It is a measure taken by the European Union that establishes stricter statutory requirements for the protection of personal data and puts pressure on companies to act, as non-compliance is subject to serious penalties. Fines can amount to as much as 4 percent of the affected company's revenue. Businesses therefore need to adjust their data protection processes to ensure compliance with statutory provisions.

CHG-MERIDIAN is an expert in the field of efficient technology management. Its eraSURE® process offers a partial solution to the challenges posed by the new regulation. “Under the provisions of GDPR, every company in the European Economic Area is required to prepare a consistent data erasure concept. We are supporting our customers with the eraSURE® solution, which meets this demand for a certified data erasure process perfectly,” says Tobias Wiktorowski, product manager for eraSURE® at CHG-MERIDIAN.

Companies have stepped up the protection of their IT systems against attacks from the outside. However; when it comes to end-of-life processes for their IT assets, there is scope for improvement. As the world is becoming more and more digital, increasing volumes of data are being stored and processed. A significant proportion of this data is of a personal nature and thus strongly protected by the provisions of GDPR. In addition, companies regularly renew their IT inventory, including laptops, smartphones, printers, and other equipment, to avoid high repair and maintenance costs. But what happens to the data saved on the IT equipment? CHG-MERIDIAN's eraSURE® process offers a solution for used equipment. eraSURE® provides customers with a certified, non-captive data erasure solution that applies to the entire device inventory. We are continuously enhancing this solution and launched a version for printer systems last year.

CHG-MERIDIAN offers purpose-designed data erasure processes with an outstanding level of process reliability. eraSURE® and eraSURE®+ are certified and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and British Standards Institution (BSI) compliant solutions. Customers can select a procedure that is tailored to their required level of protection and data categories. CHG-MERIDIAN provides a seamless process, from the collection of IT assets from the customer's premises to the erasure of the data at CHG-MERIDIAN's own technology and service centre.

The data erasure processes are suitable for all forms of data storage, including SSD, hybrid, or flash memory in laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and even in printers, photocopiers, and multifunction printers. At the technology and service centres in Gross Gerau (Germany) and Skien (Norway), data is erased from more than 145,000 devices per year. The erasure processes also form part of various other solutions offered by CHG-MERIDIAN, such as Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Output Solutions.