In this guide, I will show you exactly how to implement ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 and ensure you pass your audit. You will get a complete walkthrough of the control, practical implementation examples, and access to the ISO 27001 templates and toolkit that make compliance easy.
I am Stuart Barker, an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor with over 30 years of experience conducting hundreds of audits. I will cut through the jargon to show you exactly what changed in the 2022 update and provide you with plain-English advice to get you certified.
Key Takeaways: ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal or Re-use of Equipment
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 requires organizations to verify that sensitive data and licensed software are removed or securely overwritten before equipment is disposed of or reused. The goal is to prevent data leakage from old hard drives, laptops, or mobile devices that might end up in the secondary market or with unauthorized third parties. Simply hitting “Delete” or emptying the Recycle Bin is not sufficient for compliance.
Core requirements for compliance include:
- Sanitization Over Deletion: You must use professional sanitization methods (like overwriting sectors or crypto-shredding) to ensure data is unrecoverable. For high-sensitivity data, physical destruction is often mandatory.
- Reuse Protocols: If a laptop is being reallocated from the Finance Manager to a new Sales Rep, it must be wiped of all previous data and licensed software to prevent “Privilege Creep” or accidental data exposure.
- Third-Party Certification: If you use a disposal vendor, they must provide a Certificate of Destruction. This is your primary piece of evidence for an ISO auditor.
- Removal of Identifiers: All physical identifiers, such as company asset tags, labels, and stickers, should be removed before equipment leaves your control.
- Storage Media Verification: Before disposal, you must verify that the storage media actually contains no sensitive information, a step often overlooked when recycling “broken” equipment.
Audit Focus: Auditors will look for “The Chain of Custody”:
- The Proof: “Show me the Certificate of Destruction for the last batch of laptops you recycled.”
- The Process: “What is your step-by-step process for wiping a phone before it is given to a different employee?”
- The Inventory: They will cross-reference your Asset Register with your disposal records to ensure nothing has simply “gone missing.”
Data Sanitisation Levels (NIST 800-88 Standards):
| Method | Action | Recoverable? | Recommended Use Case |
| Clear | Factory Reset / Standard Format. | Yes (with specialist tools) | Reassigning a device inside the same team. |
| Purge | Sector Overwriting / Degaussing. | No (Extremely difficult) | Donating equipment or selling on the open market. |
| Destroy | Shredding / Incineration. | Impossible | End-of-life hardware containing “Secret” data. |
Table of Contents
- Key Takeaways: ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal or Re-use of Equipment
- What is ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14?
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Free Training Video
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Explainer Video
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Podcast
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Implementation Guidance
- How to implement ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14
- Data Sanitisation Levels
- How to comply
- Top 3 ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 mistakes and how to avoid them
- Applicability of ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 across different business models.
- Fast Track ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Compliance with the ISO 27001 Toolkit
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 FAQ
- Related ISO 27001 Controls
- Further Reading
- ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Attribute Table
What is ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14?
The focus for this ISO 27001 Control is your equipment how you dispose of it or re-use it. This is about protecting the data that is on it and preventing data leakage.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal or Re-Use of Equipment is an ISO 27001 control that looks to make sure securely dispose of equipment and if you do reuse it, that you complete remove any data from it in a way that is unrecoverable.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Purpose
The purpose of ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal Or Re-Use Of Equipment is to prevent leakage of information from equipment to be disposed or re-used.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Definition
The ISO 27001 standard defines ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 as:
Items of equipment containing storage media should be verified to ensure that any sensitive data and licensed software has been removed or securely overwritten prior to disposal or re-use.
ISO 27001:2022 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal or Re-Use of Equipment
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Free Training Video
In the video ISO 27001 Data Leakage Prevention Explained – ISO27001:2022 Annex A 7.14 I show you how to implement it and how to pass the audit.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Explainer Video
In this beginner’s guide to ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal Or Re-Use Of Equipment , ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Stuart Barker and his team talk you through what it is, how to implement in and how to pass the audit. Free ISO 27001 training.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Podcast
In this episode: Lead Auditor Stuart Barker and team do a deep dive into the ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal Or Re-Use Of Equipment . The podcast explores what it is, why it is important and the path to compliance.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Implementation Guidance
General Guidance
Every item of equipment that we have has a limited life span. Sometimes it is short and sometime it is long but at some point a piece of equipment will be reallocated, repurposed and eventually it will be disposed of.
This control concerns itself with equipment that contains storage media. We explored the requirements on storage media in the ISO 27001 Annex A 5.10 Storage Media and it may be worth refreshing your memory on this control.
Our worse case scenario is that confidential and sensitive information ends up in the wrong hands or in the public domain. The consequences range from the embarrassing, to the legal ramifications, to financial and potentially, in the extreme, life threatening.
Delete is not enough
What we do not want is something ending up on eBay and some smart arse tech person recovering all that lovely data you didn’t quite get rid of.
I think we are all savvy enough in this day and age to know that just hitting delete, or even emptying the trash can, is not enough to remove that data from the system.
Encryption
A great compensating control to go along side this one is encryption and in particular the encryption of the hard drive as part of your standard build. Even in this scenario though it is best practice to securely remove all data from a storage device before reuse and to have the device professionally destroyed by a specialist third party when it is no longer needed. They will provide all of the appropriate documentation, receipts, audit trails and assurances that you will need.
Asset Tags and Labels
Some additional considerations to think about include asset tags or labels that are on any equipment. Best to remove those identifiers.
Records and Audit Trails
Part of your asset management process this is an important step and be sure to keep all records and audit trails.
How to implement ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14
Implementing ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 requires a rigorous process to ensure that sensitive information and licensed software are not compromised when equipment is retired or reassigned. This technical guide outlines the action-result workflow for sanitising storage media and maintaining a compliant audit trail for your Information Security Management System (ISMS).
1. Categorise Equipment and Media Sensitivity
Identify all assets designated for disposal or re-use to determine the required level of sanitisation based on the classification of the data they contain.
- Review the Asset Register to confirm the data classification level associated with the hardware.
- Identify all non-volatile storage components, including Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Solid State Drives (SSD), and internal flash memory.
- Distinguish between equipment intended for internal re-use and equipment being permanently removed from the organisation.
2. Inspect Assets for Licensed Software and Data
Perform a technical audit of the equipment to ensure that proprietary software and confidential datasets are flagged for removal before the hardware leaves its current secure environment.
- Verify that all instances of licensed software are identified to prevent licensing breaches during equipment transfer.
- Check for the presence of sensitive cryptographic keys or authentication tokens stored locally on the device.
- Document the status of the device in the disposal log to trigger the next phase of the sanitisation workflow.
3. Apply Secure Sanitisation Techniques
Execute technical sanitisation protocols such as Clear, Purge, or Destroy to render data unrecoverable according to industry standards like NIST 800-88.
- Provision software-based overwriting (Clear) for equipment intended for internal re-use where the risk is low.
- Apply cryptographic erasure or degaussing (Purge) for assets being sold or donated to external parties.
- Ensure that sanitisation tools provide a verification report confirming the successful completion of the overwrite process.
4. Destroy Unrecoverable Storage Components
Physically pulverise or shred storage media that cannot be reliably sanitised or that contains highly sensitive information that must never leave the organisation.
- Utilise an approved third-party vendor to perform industrial shredding or incineration of physical disks.
- Supervise the destruction process or ensure a secure chain of custody is maintained from the point of collection to the point of destruction.
- Isolate components that failed sanitisation to prevent accidental re-circulation into the asset pool.
5. Formalise the Audit Trail and Documentation
Update your compliance records to provide evidence to auditors that the secure disposal or re-use process was followed and verified.
- Collect and store a Certificate of Destruction (CoD) for every asset that has been physically destroyed.
- Update the Asset Register to reflect the new status of the equipment, such as Disposed, Recycled, or Re-assigned.
- Revoke all logical access rights and IAM roles associated with the specific hardware ID to ensure the device identity is retired from the network.
Data Sanitisation Levels
Data Sanitisation Levels” table – based on NIST 800-88
| Sanitization Method | Action Taken | Recoverable? | Primary Use Case | ISO 27001:2022 Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | Standard Format / Factory Reset. | Yes (with specialized tools) | Re-using a device within the same company. | 8.10 |
| Purge | Overwriting sectors (3 passes) / Degaussing. | No (Highly difficult to recover) | Selling a laptop on eBay or external donation. | 8.10 |
| Destroy | Physical Shredding / Incineration. | Impossible | Highly Sensitive, Confidential, or Secret Data. | 8.10 |
How to comply
To comply with ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal Or Re-Use Of Equipment you are going to
- Get the help of professional third parties to securely destroy equipment you do not need
- Have policies and procedures in place
- Assess your equipment and perform a risk assessment
- Implement controls proportionate to the risk posed
- Keep maintenance records
- Test the controls that you have to make sure they are working
- Where equipment is reused you will fully remove and make un recoverable any data
Top 3 ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 mistakes and how to avoid them
The top 3 mistakes people make for ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Secure Disposal Or Re-Use Of Equipment are
1. You give old equipment to charity
This is not a bad thing actually. Neither is putting on eBay to sell it. But what is bad is not removing all labels and stickers and identifiers and not fully erasing all data on it in a way that is unrecoverable. Have a solid data removal process that you can evidence if you want to give to charity or resell.
2. You keep stuff for ever
It can be hard to get rid of stuff but you need to do some house keeping and follow your processes to securely destroy equipment you do not need rather than having it in a cupboard or on a desk.
3. Your document and version control is wrong
Keeping your document version control up to date, making sure that version numbers match where used, having a review evidenced in the last 12 months, having documents that have no comments in are all good practices.
Applicability of ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 across different business models.
| Business Type | Applicability | Examples of Control Implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Small Businesses | Focuses on ensuring that old office hardware doesn’t leak customer or financial data when retired or sold. The goal is to move beyond simple file deletion to verified sanitization methods. |
|
| Tech Startups | Critical for managing rapidly changing hardware fleets. Compliance involves formalizing the process of reallocating devices between employees to prevent “Privilege Creep” and accidental data crossover. |
|
| AI Companies | Vital for protecting specialized GPU clusters and high-value training data storage. Focus is on the physical destruction of any media that has held proprietary model IP. |
|
Fast Track ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Compliance with the ISO 27001 Toolkit
For ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 (Secure disposal or re-use of equipment), the requirement is to ensure that items of equipment containing storage media are verified to ensure sensitive data has been removed or overwritten before disposal or reuse. This is about preventing data leakage when hardware reaches the end of its life.
| Compliance Factor | SaaS Asset Lifecycle Modules | High Table ISO 27001 Toolkit | Audit Evidence Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy Ownership | Rents access to disposal rules; if you cancel, your documented sanitization standards and history vanish. | Permanent Assets: Fully editable Word/Excel Secure Disposal Policies that you own forever on your infrastructure. | A localized “Secure Disposal and Re-Use Policy” defining NIST 800-88 sanitization levels. |
| Operational Simplicity | Over-engineers hardware retirement with dashboards that cannot verify physical destruction or factory resets. | Governance-First: Formalizes your existing IT decommissioning and third-party shredding workflows. | A completed “Record of Destruction” log mapped to a physical Certificate of Destruction from your recycler. |
| Cost Structure | Charges an “Asset Lifecycle Tax” based on the volume of retired hardware or total tracked assets. | One-Off Fee: A single payment covers your governance documentation for 5 devices or 5,000 servers. | Allocating budget to professional data-wiping software (e.g., Blancco) rather than a monthly paperwork fee. |
| Vendor Freedom | Limited by API “connectors” to brand-name recyclers; struggles with niche hardware or local specialized vendors. | 100% Agnostic: Standards adapt to any hardware vendor, specialized shredder, or local recycling partner. | The ability to switch hardware recycling vendors without needing to reconfigure a rigid SaaS compliance module. |
Summary: For Annex A 7.14, the auditor wants to see that you have a formal policy for secure disposal and proof that you follow it (e.g., certificates of destruction). The High Table ISO 27001 Toolkit provides the governance framework to satisfy this requirement immediately. It is the most direct, cost-effective way to achieve compliance using permanent documentation that you own and control.
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 FAQ
What is ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14?
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 is a physical and environmental control that requires organizations to verify that sensitive data and licensed software have been removed or securely overwritten from storage media before equipment is disposed of or re-used.
- Prevents unauthorized data recovery from decommissioned hardware.
- Ensures compliance with software licensing agreements.
- Mitigates the risk of data breaches via the secondary device market.
How do you implement secure equipment disposal for ISO 27001?
Successful implementation of Annex A 7.14 requires a structured process to ensure no data leaves the organization’s control on retired assets.
- Inventory Check: Cross-reference equipment against the asset register.
- Sanitization: Use software to “Clear” or “Purge” data based on sensitivity.
- Physical Destruction: Shred or incinerate media that cannot be securely wiped.
- Verification: Obtain certificates of destruction from third-party vendors.
What is the difference between Clear, Purge, and Destroy in data sanitization?
The three levels of media sanitization—Clear, Purge, and Destroy—determine the degree to which data is rendered unrecoverable based on NIST 800-88 standards.
- Clear: Standard software-based factory reset used for internal re-use.
- Purge: Secure overwriting or degaussing that makes data recovery difficult even with laboratory tools.
- Destroy: Physical shredding or melting that makes data recovery impossible.
Is a Certificate of Destruction mandatory for ISO 27001?
Yes, a Certificate of Destruction (CoD) is considered essential evidence for an ISO 27001 audit to prove that the secure disposal process was executed correctly.
- Provides a formal audit trail for decommissioned assets.
- Identifies the specific serial numbers of destroyed storage media.
- Demonstrates the accountability of third-party disposal vendors.
Which assets are covered under Annex A 7.14?
Annex A 7.14 covers any item of equipment containing non-volatile storage media that could potentially hold sensitive organizational information.
- Hard drives (HDD) and Solid State Drives (SSD) in laptops and servers.
- Mobile phones, tablets, and wearable technology.
- Networking equipment, including routers and managed switches.
- Office hardware such as multi-function printers and copiers.
Can equipment be re-used internally under ISO 27001?
Yes, equipment can be re-used internally, provided it undergoes a verified sanitization process to prevent the “prevailing user” from accessing the data of the previous user.
- Apply a “Clear” level sanitization before re-assigning devices.
- Ensure all licensed software not required by the new user is removed.
- Update the asset register to reflect the change in ownership and location.
Related ISO 27001 Controls
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.8 Equipment Siting And Protection
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.13 Equipment Maintenance
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.18 Access Rights
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.11 Supporting Utilities
Further Reading
ISO 27001 Data Retention Policy Beginner’s Guide
ISO 27001 Annex A 7.14 Attribute Table
| Control type | Information security properties | Cybersecurity concepts | Operational capabilities | Security domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preventive | Confidentiality | Protect | Physical Security | Protection |
| Asset Management | Resilience |
