When discussing data sanitization methods, which method involves completely removing data?

Data sanitization is a crucial practice in ensuring that sensitive information is irrecoverable and secure from unauthorized access. The method that involves completely removing data is known as destruction.

Destruction refers to the physical or electronic process of rendering data irretrievable by any means. This may involve methods such as physically damaging the storage medium so that the data cannot be reconstructed, or employing techniques that eliminate all signs of the information stored on the device. The goal of data destruction is to ensure that once the operation is complete, it is impossible to retrieve any data, protecting it from any future access or potential breaches.

While options like overwriting, shredding, and degaussing do play roles in data sanitization, they do not represent complete removal in the same absolute sense as destruction. Overwriting can effectively make data unrecoverable, but it may still leave traces. Shredding pertains to physical devices, ensuring that data cannot be accessed but may not address logical deletion effectively. Degaussing disrupts magnetic fields to erase data, but it specifically applies to magnetic storage and may not be applicable to all data types.

Therefore, the method that embodies complete removal of data is destruction, as it ensures that the data is irretrievable and permanently eliminated.