CERTIFIED DATA DESTRUCTION
Certified On-Site Degaussing Service for Institutions
Permanently destroy data on hard drives and magnetic tape at your own facility, without media ever leaving your custody. The process follows NIST SP 800-88, is witnessed by your team, and concludes with a per-serial-number certificate of destruction as audit evidence.
Every IT lifecycle ends at the same point: storage media that is no longer in use but still holds data. Decommissioned servers, replaced hard drives, and backup tapes past their retention period continue to carry customer, patient, employee, or internal data — and that data does not disappear simply because the equipment is powered off. This is where a degaussing service comes in: destroying data on magnetic media permanently with a high-intensity magnetic field, so that no forensic technique can recover it.
Indonesia's regulatory framework means this final stage can no longer be treated as a warehouse chore. Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection requires data controllers to destroy personal data under certain conditions and to prevent unauthorised access, while Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 requires electronic system operators to secure information through the end of its lifecycle. For regulated sectors — banks under OJK supervision, healthcare facilities managing electronic medical records under Ministry of Health Regulation No. 24 of 2022 — auditors do not merely ask whether data was destroyed; they ask for evidence of how and when.
Degaussing is one of the sanitization methods recognised in NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, the most widely referenced international guideline for media sanitization. It is the right method for magnetic media — hard disk drives (HDDs), LTO/DLT tape, and other magnetic storage — but it is not effective on SSDs and flash media, which store data electrically rather than magnetically. This page explains how Datasan's on-site degaussing service works, the standards we follow, the documents you receive, and when degaussing is the right choice — and when it is not.
Why Retired Media Is the Risk Most Organisations Overlook
Formatting and deleting do not erase data
Reformatting, file deletion, and even partition removal only discard pointers to the data, not the data itself. Data on magnetic platters remains recoverable with widely available forensic software.
Media leaves your custody
Shipping hard drives to an off-site destruction vendor opens a chain-of-custody gap: in transit and in storage, your sensitive data sits outside your control with no verifiable safeguards.
No evidence for auditors
In-house destruction without per-serial-number documentation cannot be defended in a PDP Law audit, an OJK IT audit, or an ISO 27001 assessment. Without evidence, destruction is treated as if it never happened.
The wrong method for the wrong media
Many organisations degauss SSDs or merely drill through HDD casings — both leave recoverable data behind. Each media type demands a different sanitization method under NIST SP 800-88.
Datasan Degaussing: Permanent Destruction, Fully Documented
Degausser field strength matched to modern media
We use degaussing equipment with magnetic field strength sufficient for the coercivity of current-generation hard drives and tape, so every magnetic pattern — including servo data — is completely erased.
On-site at your facility, witnessed by your team
The entire process takes place at your premises as witnessed destruction: media never leaves your custody, and your representatives observe every unit being destroyed.
Procedures aligned with NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1
Degaussing is performed as a Purge/Destroy-level sanitization technique under NIST SP 800-88, including the verification and documentation steps the guideline calls for.
Per-serial-number certificate of destruction
Every unit is logged by serial number, photographed, and recorded in a certificate of destruction and official minutes — evidence ready to hand to internal auditors, external auditors, or regulators.
Method advisory for mixed inventories
Our team triages your inventory: magnetic media is degaussed, while SSDs and flash media are routed to the correct methods such as crypto-erase or physical destruction.
Datasan's data destruction services are used by institutions across Indonesia's financial, healthcare, and large corporate sectors to decommission their storage media.
How the On-Site Degaussing Process Works
Assessment and media inventory
We map the types, quantities, and locations of the media to be destroyed — HDDs, LTO/DLT tapes, or other magnetic media — and log every unit by serial number. At this stage we also identify non-magnetic media such as SSDs that require a different method, so nothing in your inventory is handled the wrong way.
Degaussing executed at your facility
The degausser is brought to your premises. Each unit is placed in the degausser and exposed to a high-intensity magnetic field that erases every magnetic pattern holding data. Your institution's representatives witness each unit being processed, so the chain of custody is never broken.
Verification and documentation
NIST SP 800-88 requires sanitization to be verified and documented. We verify that the process ran within the equipment's specifications, document every unit with before-and-after photographs, and reconcile the results against the initial inventory list.
Certificate of destruction and signed minutes
You receive a certificate of destruction listing every serial number, the method used, the date of execution, and the operators involved, together with destruction minutes signed by both parties. These documents serve as compliance evidence for PDP Law audits, financial-sector IT audits, and ISO 27001 certification.
Frequently Asked Questions About Degaussing Services
What is degaussing and how does it work?
Degaussing exposes magnetic storage media to a high-intensity magnetic field, permanently erasing the magnetic patterns that hold data. Because the magnetic structure itself is destroyed — not just the file table — no forensic technique can recover the data. NIST SP 800-88 classifies degaussing as a Purge/Destroy-level sanitization technique for magnetic media.
Can a hard drive still be used after degaussing?
No. On modern hard drives, degaussing also erases the servo data and platter-resident firmware, leaving the drive inoperable. This is an added assurance: degaussed media cannot be reused or resold while still holding data.
Is degaussing effective on SSDs or flash drives?
No. SSDs, flash drives, and memory cards store data electrically in NAND cells rather than magnetically, so a degausser's magnetic field does not erase them. For those media, NIST SP 800-88 points to other methods such as built-in sanitize commands, crypto-erase, or physical destruction — services we also provide so your entire inventory is handled with the correct method.
Do Indonesian regulations mandate degaussing specifically?
No Indonesian regulation mandates a specific destruction method. The PDP Law and GR 71/2019 mandate the outcome — data destroyed so it cannot be accessed or recovered — and leave the method to the organisation. Degaussing performed to NIST SP 800-88, with full documentation, is a widely recognised way to demonstrate that obligation has been met for magnetic media.
What does the certificate of destruction contain?
The certificate lists every destroyed unit by serial number, the media type, the sanitization method used, the date and location of execution, and the identities of the operators and witnesses. It is accompanied by destruction minutes signed by both parties and photographic documentation, ready for use in internal audits, regulatory audits, and ISO 27001 assessments.
Why on-site rather than shipping media to a vendor's facility?
As long as data-bearing media sits outside your custody, the leakage risk and the legal responsibility remain with you as the data controller. On-site degaussing closes that gap: the data is destroyed before the media ever leaves your facility, witnessed by your own team, with an unbroken chain of custody from server rack to signed minutes.
CERTIFIED DATA DESTRUCTION
Plan Your Media Destruction the Right Way
Talk to the Datasan team about your media inventory. We help you match the right method to each media type, schedule on-site degaussing, and ensure you hold audit-ready proof of destruction.
