Editing File deletion (section)

==Sensitive data==
{{see also|Data remanence}}

The common problem with sensitive data is that deleted files are not really erased and so may be recovered by interested parties. Most [[file system]]s only remove the link to data. But even overwriting parts of the disk with something else or formatting it may not guarantee that the sensitive data is completely unrecoverable. Special software is available that overwrites data, and modern (post-2001) ATA drives include a secure erase command in firmware. However, high-security applications and high-security enterprises can sometimes require that a disk drive be physically destroyed to ensure data is not recoverable, as microscopic changes in head alignment and other effects can mean even such measures are not guaranteed. When the data is encrypted only the encryption key has to be unavailable. [[Crypto-shredding]] is the practice of 'deleting' data by (only) deleting or overwriting the encryption keys.