Question 546 of 750

Data Destruction and Disposal →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

HIPAA Compliant Data Destruction

This 220-1202 practice question tests your understanding of data destruction and disposal. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A healthcare clinic is disposing of 50 hard drives that contained protected health information (PHI). The compliance officer insists on a method that meets HIPAA requirements and provides a certificate of destruction. Which approach should be taken?

A
Overwrite the drives with zeros and reuse them in non-patient areas.
Why wrong: Overwriting may be acceptable, but without a certificate, it may not satisfy audit requirements. The clinic wants a certificate.
B
Use a degausser and then recycle the drives as scrap metal.
Why wrong: Degaussing is effective, but the clinic needs a certificate of destruction, which a degaussing service may not always provide.
C
Hire a certified e-waste recycler to physically shred the drives and provide a certificate of destruction.
A certified recycler will shred the drives and issue a certificate, meeting HIPAA requirements and providing audit-proof documentation.
D
Perform a cryptographic erase if the drives support it.
Why wrong: Crypto erase is effective but may not be available on all drives, and obtaining a certificate from the process is not standard.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Quick Answer

The answer is to hire a certified e-waste recycler to physically shred the drives and provide a certificate of destruction. This is correct because HIPAA’s Security Rule requires that protected health information (PHI) be rendered completely unreachable and unrecoverable, and physical destruction—such as shredding or pulverizing the platters—is the only method that guarantees data cannot be reconstructed. On the CompTIA A+ Core 2 220-1202 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of proper disposal procedures for sensitive data, often appearing as a contrast to simpler methods like wiping or degaussing, which may not satisfy compliance requirements for a verifiable audit trail. A common trap is choosing “degaussing” alone, since it destroys magnetic data but does not physically destroy the drive and rarely yields a formal certificate. Remember the mnemonic “Shred to Shed Liability”—if PHI is involved, physical shredding plus a certificate is the only way to prove HIPAA compliance.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Hire a certified e-waste recycler to physically shred the drives and provide a certificate of destruction.

Option C is correct because HIPAA requires that PHI on electronic media be rendered permanently unreadable and unrecoverable, and physical destruction (e.g., shredding) is the only method that guarantees this for hard drives. A certified e-waste recycler provides a certificate of destruction, which serves as the required documentation of compliance. Overwriting, degaussing, or cryptographic erase may not be sufficient or verifiable for all drives, especially if they are being disposed of rather than reused.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
Overwrite the drives with zeros and reuse them in non-patient areas.
Why it's wrong here
Overwriting may be acceptable, but without a certificate, it may not satisfy audit requirements. The clinic wants a certificate.
✗
Use a degausser and then recycle the drives as scrap metal.
Why it's wrong here
Degaussing is effective, but the clinic needs a certificate of destruction, which a degaussing service may not always provide.
✓
Hire a certified e-waste recycler to physically shred the drives and provide a certificate of destruction.
Why this is correct
A certified recycler will shred the drives and issue a certificate, meeting HIPAA requirements and providing audit-proof documentation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Perform a cryptographic erase if the drives support it.
Why it's wrong here
Crypto erase is effective but may not be available on all drives, and obtaining a certificate from the process is not standard.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The A+ exam often tests the misconception that degaussing or cryptographic erase is sufficient for HIPAA disposal, but the key requirement for a certificate of destruction and the need for physical destruction when drives are not being reused makes shredding the only correct answer.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Physical shredding reduces hard drive platters to small particles (typically 2mm or less), ensuring that no magnetic or solid-state data can be reconstructed, even with advanced forensic tools. The NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1 guidelines classify physical destruction as the only 'Clear' method for drives that are being disposed of and cannot be verified for reuse. In practice, certified e-waste recyclers follow chain-of-custody procedures and issue certificates that include the serial numbers of destroyed drives, which auditors require for HIPAA compliance.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A practitioner preparing for the 220-1202 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this 220-1202 question test?

Data Destruction and Disposal — This question tests Data Destruction and Disposal — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Hire a certified e-waste recycler to physically shred the drives and provide a certificate of destruction. — Option C is correct because HIPAA requires that PHI on electronic media be rendered permanently unreadable and unrecoverable, and physical destruction (e.g., shredding) is the only method that guarantees this for hard drives. A certified e-waste recycler provides a certificate of destruction, which serves as the required documentation of compliance. Overwriting, degaussing, or cryptographic erase may not be sufficient or verifiable for all drives, especially if they are being disposed of rather than reused.

What should I do if I get this 220-1202 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on 220-1202

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A technician is decommissioning a server that contained encrypted patient health records. The organization's policy requires data to be destroyed beyond recovery, but the server must be returned to the leasing company. Which method should the technician use?

medium

A.Perform a full format of all drives.
B.Use a degausser on the entire server chassis.
✓ C.Remove the hard drives and physically shred them, then return the server without drives.
D.Run a disk cleanup and delete all files.

Why C: Option C is correct because physically shredding the hard drives ensures the encrypted patient health records are destroyed beyond any possible recovery, which satisfies the organization's policy. Returning the server without drives complies with the leasing company's requirement to return the server chassis, as the drives are typically owned by the organization or can be removed per lease terms. This method is the only one that guarantees data destruction at the physical media level, bypassing any residual data on the encrypted drives.

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