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Making data "utterly corrupt and worthless" is actually really hard, even if you're deliberately trying to erase it. That's why we invented secure disk erase pr

Making data "utterly corrupt and worthless" is actually really hard, even if you're deliberately trying to erase it. That's why we invented secure disk erase programs (eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutmann_method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutmann_method), because people keep inventing better ways to get back 'deleted' data you might not have wanted them to see. This goes triple for the brain, which is analog and highly redundant. You can have large chunks of your brain physically ripped out (examples on request) and still live a pretty normal life afterwards, unlike modern computers where a single off bit can crash a program. http://www.benbest.com/cryonics/CryoFAQ.html http://www.benbest.com/cryonics/CryoFAQ.html

DanBC 12y ago
Just a side note: the Gutmann algorithms have nothing to do with defeating better methods of recovering data. He created optimal patterns for each drive controller he had available. You would only ever use the full set if you didn't know what controller you had - otherwise using a single set would be fine. Gutmann himself says that a few overwrites of random data is about as good as you can do.
teddyh 12y ago
Firstly, the Gutmann method is seriously outdated. Nowadays, for modern SAS/SATA drives, a normal overwrite of the data is perfectly sufficient for all cases – if I recall correctly, nobody has been able to restore any data thusly overwritten. (This is for magnetic drives. For SSD drives, “overwriting” does not actually overwrite, so anything and everything might be still accessible.) Secondly, it has happened that people has suffered major brain damage and survived with ”only” personality changes and mobility impairments, but I posit that these cases are rare, and not nearly the normal case you make them out to be. Thirdly, it is a rather large step to go from simply having your data all there and usable to having to hire, no, wait, invent, data recovery technology.

DanBC 12y ago

Just a side note: the Gutmann algorithms have nothing to do with defeating better methods of recovering data. He created optimal patterns for each drive controller he had available. You would only ever use the full set if you didn't know what controller you had - otherwise using a single set would be fine. Gutmann himself says that a few overwrites of random data is about as good as you can do.

teddyh 12y ago

Firstly, the Gutmann method is seriously outdated. Nowadays, for modern SAS/SATA drives, a normal overwrite of the data is perfectly sufficient for all cases – if I recall correctly, nobody has been able to restore any data thusly overwritten. (This is for magnetic drives. For SSD drives, “overwriting” does not actually overwrite, so anything and everything might be still accessible.) Secondly, it has happened that people has suffered major brain damage and survived with ”only” personality changes and mobility impairments, but I posit that these cases are rare, and not nearly the normal case you make them out to be. Thirdly, it is a rather large step to go from simply having your data all there and usable to having to hire, no, wait, invent, data recovery technology.