PHS FOI 2026-002372
- Date of request
- 04 March 2026
- Date of response
- 27 March 2026
- FOI request ID
- PHS FOI 2026-002372
- Corporate information
Request
- Whether your organisation’s policies, contractual terms, or internal procedures require an explicit outcome based warranty or guarantee that personal data on a specific storage device has been rendered irrecoverable as a final data state following software based erasure.
- Where software based erasure of storage media is undertaken internally, what recorded evidential assurance is relied upon to conclude that the final data state of the specific storage device is irrecoverable, as distinct from confirmation that an erasure process was executed.a.Where software based erasure is undertaken by a third party provider:
- a.Do the certificates or contractual documents held constitute an explicit outcome based warranty or guarantee of irrecoverability for each specific storage device processed?
- Beyond reliance on supplier accreditation or recognised standards including but not limited to ADISA certification, ISO accreditation, NIST alignment, HMG IA standards, NHS Digital guidance, or Data Security and Protection Toolkit assertions, and beyond confirmation that a wiping process was completed, does the organisation hold any recorded, device specific documentation evidencing independent verification, testing, or validation that the data on the storage media has been rendered irrecoverable in practice?
- If no explicit outcome based warranty or device specific outcome evidence is held beyond certification, accreditation, or confirmation of process completion, please confirm what recorded form of evidential assurance is relied upon when concluding that personal data has been rendered irrecoverable.