Moving Your Digital Life: Protecting Data During Physical Relocation

We used to have filing cabinets filled with documents and paperwork, as well as photo albums filled with old 4×6 physical pictures that had become slightly discoloured over time. 

Then everything became digital, and as a society, we quickly adopted the newest and best technology, including SSDs, USB thumb sticks, hard drives, and more. Since new technology has clearly improved our lives, we are by no means condemning its introduction. 

Even though we have shifted much of our lives to the cloud, it’s still very likely that a sizeable portion of your life is stored as 1s and 0s on a thumb drive or spinning disc drive, securely kept in a drawer somewhere. 

You just haven’t had time to upload the data, but you still want to protect it. This is usually okay, but when the time comes to move, you’ll be reunited with your old laptops and drives that you want to keep, but don’t know how to move safely.

Key Takeaways

• Choosing a reputable removal company for the best services 
• Utilizing the 3-2-1 strategy provides you with a way to recover data 
• Developing a post-move digital hygiene for a progressive move 
• Protecting digital assets during relocation requires a proactive, multi-layered strategy

Choose A Reputable Removal Company

We are aware that this is a dull beginning to what should be a fascinating article, but bear with us. Since they load your belongings onto a truck, transport them to their destination, and then unload them, you might assume that all moving companies are the same. 

To a certain degree, this is true, but they’re not all created equally, and if you’ve got a lot of sensitive data on physical drives, you may want to perform a bit more due diligence before hiring the cheapest option and calling it a day. 

This becomes even more vital if you’re planning on moving abroad, and according to PSS international removal services, this is an event that’s becoming increasingly popular. 

The point is that if you have a lot of delicate hardware that could be damaged if transported like your typical sofa, you should find a removal company that can accommodate your demands (e.g., that they use climate-controlled vehicles and place your electronics inside anti-static bags, etc.) or one that specialises in this kind of transportation. 

Utilize The 3-2-1 Strategy

The majority of insurers are only interested in insuring the device, not the data it contains, even if you may have paid for all the insurance in the world. 

To put it another way, you may be able to recover the value of the physical items but not the data if your phones, laptops, drives, and other hardware are damaged during transit. 

In any case, what value can you realistically assign to personal digital data? To avoid issues that might arise in this regard, you should explore the 3-2-1 strategy. 

It has been around for a while and is used in many different contexts, but for our purposes, it will guarantee that you can still access the data—possibly the most important component—even if the vessel, as it were, is rendered unusable. 

• Maintaining three copies of your data—original, local, and off-site—is essential to making the most of this strategy. For the average person, the off-site component will be via some kind of cloud storage provider. 
• 2 different types of media: This usually includes cloud storage and a physical HDD, USB stick, SSD, or NAS system (physical in the sense that you’re physically transporting the entire unit).
• 1 physical device: Your data should always travel with you, not in the back of the truck, regardless of how you choose to store it.

This strategy may seem excessive, but in the event of a catastrophic event, it serves as practically a failsafe, giving you three more ways to recover the data.

Post-Move Digital Hygiene

Once your belongings have arrived and been unpacked at your new location, the work doesn’t end. 

Your post-move checklist is a little more complicated when it comes to your data and hardware, but you might be able to just unpack the kitchen utensils and put them away in the cupboards. 

There are several steps you will need to follow if you want to ensure your digital life follows you seamlessly from your origin to your destination:

• Update your addresses in your password manager and browsers.
• Fire up all physical items to check that they’re still operational.
• To reflect your new address, update the recovery phone numbers and 2FA settings. If you use any financial applications, this is particularly crucial.
• Any cloud-stored data that you wish to retain in hard copy can be downloaded.
• If you are relocating to a different country, make sure that the voltage requirements match (though you should have checked this well in advance and made an investment in voltage converters and plug adapters).

Relocating is never simple, and it becomes even more difficult when you move overseas. 

However, adhering to a few fundamental guidelines for both your hardware and the data it contains will ensure that, even in the event that the physical hardware is lost or damaged, the data—which is what matters—will be recoverable.

The Final Verdict 

 Protecting digital assets during relocation requires a proactive, multi-layered strategy involving comprehensive backup, device encryption, and maintaining physical custody of hardware. 

Therefore, opting for a physical relocation with a comprehensive approach is important.

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