Is pressing delete enough? Is physically damaging a hard drive enough? In both instances, not really. Deleting a file by dragging it to the trash bin and emptying your trash makes it look like the file's gone, but with the right tools is completely recoverable. It's just hidden from your operating system. Taking a hammer to your hard drive works if you completely obliterate it, but if there's even a chance your hard drive will spin again, bad actors can salvage information. What does it actually take to permanently delete data in the digital age?

To help us break it all down on the Software & Technology podcast, we’re joined by Ryan Lobo, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Proton Data Security. Proton Data Security is a leading manufacturer of degaussers and data security products designed to wipe hard drives. On this episode, Lobo talks Cloud service paranoia, consumer remedies for safely deleting data, and the data deletion standards that the NSA recommends.

“Just drilling a hard drive is not going to take care of it, or [even] hitting delete. That leaves the data definitely there and any skilled person that knows what they’re doing can retrieve the data," Lobo said.