Early this month AVTEL Data Destruction (ADD) was pleased to welcome IT industry professionals and guest Dudley Kneller, a partner at Madgwicks Lawyers, to witness our unique data destruction process. After a demonstration of ADD's mobile data destruction unit, Kneller spoke about the new data security legislation coming into play early next year. The new regulations are set to bring data security into the limelight, both for businesses and for their customers.

The event, which took place on Thursday 2nd November in Melbourne, was a fantastic opportunity for AVTEL Data Destruction and our guests to hear an expert in technology regulation speak about the changes, and the current data security climate. Kneller certainly is an expert in the field, with many years of experience in commercial, regulatory and specialised technology matters. He gave what he modestly described as a “doorstop” on the changes, highlighting the key aspects of data security that will need to be reconsidered by businesses before the new laws are enacted next February.

Over barista coffee at The Little Mule Cafe in Melbourne’s CBD, guests were given an introduction to our industry-leading data destruction methods in our mobile unit, which was able to be easily parked in the laneway beside the cafe. Kneller’s talk then perfectly highlighted what we at AVTEL know to be true — that the area of data destruction is an essential component in good data security practices, and that it’s an area where many organisations currently drop the ball.

The current laws that have been in place since 2008 have allowed companies “to sweep [breaches] under the carpet”, as Kneller concisely put it. The new laws will change that, enforcing greater accountability for data security breaches, with organisations required to notify the regulatory body and all those potentially affected by a breach.

Kneller suggested that in terms of use and storage of current data, this won’t pose a problem, because “most organisations are either good or very good, particularly at the top end, at managing their live and current data… they’ve got all the systems in place, they’ve got backup, they’ve got virus patching, they have network security.” These measures all keep damaging breaches in the low risk basket for current data management.

The area requiring greater focus going forward is certainly the destruction of end-of-life equipment and data. Kneller confirmed that under current regulations, many companies aren’t diligent enough — they tend to “chuck [equipment] on the scrap heap and forget that, actually, the data that’s sitting on that equipment is as valuable… as it was when it was current and being used within the organisation.”

After witnessing our data destruction process in action, Kneller told his audience that “from a privacy perspective, this is exactly what the privacy commissioner is looking towards putting in place.” He praised the thorough nature of ADD's process, joking that once our machine is finished with equipment, no amount of sticky tape will be able to get it back together again. Jokes aside, Kneller finished by saying, of ADD's unit, “I don’t think there’s an example of doing it more appropriately than what we’ve seen here.”

Thanks to all the attendees last week that made this event a success, and to Dudley Kneller for his wise insight and high praise. We’re looking forward to more demonstrations and discussions in the future.

The final product - What happens to your drives when they come out of our mobile machine

Upcoming events in Sydney & Canberra

We're very excited to announce the next couple of events we will be running in Australia. After introducing our service at our Melbourne event, we are now taking our mobile machine on the road to Sydney and Canberra!

AVTEL Data Destruction's first live demo event in Melbourne

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