[Russian Mac fan]

I mean I undertand (sort of) what it is supposed to do, but should I be using it most of the time over the "Empty Trash"? If that's the case, is the former keeping my system "cleaner" so to speak? Any read downsides to using just the "Empty Trash" function?

[Chuckit]

From that funky little Help thingy the Finder puts in the menu bar:

"Even after emptying the trash, deleted files may still be recovered by using special data-recovery software. To delete files so that they cannot be recovered, choose Finder > Secure Empty Trash. Files deleted in this way are completely overwritten by meaningless data. This may take some time, depending on the size of the file. You may want to use Secure Empty Trash if you sell or give away your computer."

[Russian Mac fan]

OK, this makes sense now. I guess this option is useful for eliminating all the useless remnants that the programs leave and such...

[ManOfSteal]

Originally posted by Russian Mac fan:
I guess this option is useful for eliminating all the useless remnants that the programs leave and such...

It won't "Securely Delete" anything you don't put in the Trash yourself...

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Russian Mac fan:
OK, this makes sense now. I guess this option is useful for eliminating all the useless remnants that the programs leave and such...

Secure Empty Trash lets you securely erase sensitive data that you don't want to be recoverable.

[JKT]

In slightly more depth:

A normal empty trash operation doesn't remove the data for the file, it simply removes it from the list of known files to the System (in other words, it makes it invisible to the system which in essence means it has been deleted). This means that the file's contents can remain on the hard drive indefinitely - if it isn't overwritten by another file being saved to the hard drive, and can therefore be recovered using some technical know-how or recovery software. A Secure Empty Trash action not only removes the file from the list of known files, it also overwrites the file with random bits thus making the information effectively unrecoverable. You should use it to delete sensitive files such as those containing financial details, etc.

[Millennium]

"Secure Empty Trash" is just like the regular Empty Trash command, except that it then overwrites the space taken up by the file with several passes of random data. It's a little slower, but it's more secure. On the other hand, if nobody else can recover the data, then neither can you, so use it with care.

Also keep in mind that if They (whoever They might be) are after you, then They will still be able to get at your data if they really want to. Government agencies can and have recovered data deleted this way before, using scanning electron microscopes. Of course, this comes at such an expense of time and money that you would have to be a really important target for them to use it. But if you really want to make sure that absolutely no one can get at your data ever again, then you need to "hardware delete" the data:

1) Remove the drive from your computer.
2) Use a sledgehammer to break up the drive into tiny pieces. (this is the fun part )
3) Grind these pieces into dust with a mortar and pestle.
4) Melt the dust back into a solid blob. This is especially important for magnetic media.
5) Use the sledgehammer to break the blob into tiny pieces.
6) Seal each piece separately in concrete.
7) Bury the pieces in different locations. It's best to bury at least some of them in foreign countries, to make it harder for intelligence agencies to get the needed clearance.

You probably don't need to go quite that far with your own personal data, of course, but when you absolutely, positively must be certain that no one ever gets your data then this is the way to go.

[Russian Mac fan]

Originally posted by Millennium:
"Secure Empty Trash" is just like the regular Empty Trash command, except that it then overwrites the space taken up by the file with several passes of random data. It's a little slower, but it's more secure. On the other hand, if nobody else can recover the data, then neither can you, so use it with care.

Also keep in mind that if They (whoever They might be) are after you, then They will still be able to get at your data if they really want to. Government agencies can and have recovered data deleted this way before, using scanning electron microscopes. Of course, this comes at such an expense of time and money that you would have to be a really important target for them to use it. But if you really want to make sure that absolutely no one can get at your data ever again, then you need to "hardware delete" the data:

1) Remove the drive from your computer.
2) Use a sledgehammer to break up the drive into tiny pieces. (this is the fun part )
3) Grind these pieces into dust with a mortar and pestle.
4) Melt the dust back into a solid blob. This is especially important for magnetic media.
5) Use the sledgehammer to break the blob into tiny pieces.
6) Seal each piece separately in concrete.
7) Bury the pieces in different locations. It's best to bury at least some of them in foreign countries, to make it harder for intelligence agencies to get the needed clearance.

You probably don't need to go quite that far with your own personal data, of course, but when you absolutely, positively must be certain that no one ever gets your data then this is the way to go.

Thanks! You made my day! I had a pretty good laugh!