Last few days to take part in 'Tech Amnesty'

Thursday 01 April 2021

Islanders who still have unwanted tech devices such as phones, tablets and laptops have just a few days left to take them to Acorn - or into town - to have the data securely wiped clean.

The devices will then either be either destroyed, or resold.

Bailiwick Express has teamed up with IT hardware firm ITHSCI, and the Jersey Employment Trust to set up a 'Tech Amnesty' which will allow islanders to securely recycle their old devices, and be sure their data has been completely wiped off them.

The team at Acorn in Trinity will be receiving unwanted tech until the 5 April. Islanders can also drop off the devices in town today, by going to the Co-op building at Charing Cross. 

Pictured: the town drop-off point at the Co-op building.

Contributors will need to 'factory reset' the device, and complete a very short form to comply with data security requirements, before handing it in. 

The team at ITHSCI will then collect the device and, wherever possible, permanently wipe all of the data from it - even restoring factory settings doesn't do this completely, and in such a way that personal data can never be recovered.

In some cases, data such as pictures or texts can still be restored even following a factory reset.

If all of the data can't be removed by the team at ITHSCI, then the actual device will be totally shredded, and its component parts or materials reused instead. 

The Amnesty will be open for phones, laptops, tablets and desktop PCs.

Once the device has been completely wiped, it will then be returned to Acorn for resale with any proceeds being split between the scheme's partners. 

Before leaving their device at Acorn, islanders will need to restore it to factory settings, and complete this short form, to comply with data security requirements. 

The scheme is also able to work with businesses who may have larger volumes of IT hardware which they need to dispose of.  ITHSCI will provide a fully GDPR compliant collection, audit and processing service along with financial return to JET. Click HERE to arrange a collection.