FOI release

BSCC-FOI-0226-HD: software based data erasure of end of life IT equipment

Published 19 February 2026

Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

18 February 2026

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/biometrics-and-surveillance-camera-commissioner

To: [redacted]

Letter by email

Dear [redacted],

I write in response to an email received by my office on Thursday 12th February 2026 in which you asked:

“…please provide the following recorded information held by your department regarding assurance processes for software based data erasure of end of life IT equipment.

For clarity, this request relates solely to software based data destruction. Please exclude physical destruction methods such as shredding, crushing, degaussing or disintegration.

1. Please confirm whether departmental policy, contractual terms or internal procedures require an explicit outcome based warranty or guarantee confirming that personal data has been rendered irretrievable through software based erasure, whether carried out internally or by an external provider.

2. Where software based data destruction is performed internally, what recorded evidential assurance does the department rely upon to conclude that the final data state is irretrievable?

3. Where software based data destruction is performed by a third party provider, does the department hold recorded information demonstrating that any warranty or assurance provided explicitly extends to the software erasure method used and its claimed effectiveness? If so, please confirm the recorded nature of that verification.

4. Where no explicit outcome based warranty is required or provided, what recorded form of evidential assurance does the department rely upon to conclude that software based erasure has rendered personal data irretrievable?

I am not requesting technical configuration detail, security sensitive information or supplier specific vulnerabilities. I am seeking confirmation of the assurance model relied upon for software based data destruction.”

Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am a commissioner independent of, but appointed by, government. My office is an arm’s length body of the Home Office. Information about how my office manages data is published on my gov.uk web pages, and can be found here: Personal information charter - Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner. Deletions are undertaken manually. I do not hold the information that you have requested that is software-specific, as my office uses Home Office IT systems, so you may wish to consider a separate request to the Home Office under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act should you still require that information.

If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address below, quoting reference BSCC-FOI-0226-HD. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.

[redacted]
5th Floor, 2 Ruskin Square
Broad Green
Croydon
CR0 2WF

e-mail: Sciencesupportfoi@homeoffice.gov.uk

As part of any internal review, our handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Kind regards

Professor William Webster
Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner

Email: enquiries@obscc.org.uk