Media Handling and Data Disposal Best Practices

Purpose

Agencies must establish formal, documented media disposal procedures. Documented procedures are critical, as they help ensure that effective processes are consistently applied, regardless of staffing changes or turnover.

While the OCIO IT Security Standards provide some latitude on how the requirements in Section 8.3, Media Handling and Disposal, can be met, there are many best practices that agencies can adopt to ensure they are protected from unauthorized access to agency data. In addition, agencies should be mindful of the data retention requirements for any data contained on storage media to be disposed.