The reality

When someone passes away or moves on from a home, their digital life doesn't disappear with them. It stays behind — on laptops, phones, external drives, and stacks of old discs. Tax returns. Bank records. Passwords. Family photos. Medical history.

Most of that data ends up at estate sales, in donation bins, or in the trash. Most of it is never deliberately handled at all.

The legal obligation

In Washington State, this isn't just a privacy concern — it's a legal one.

Under RCW 19.215, any business or individual that disposes of records containing personal financial, health, or government identification data is required to take "all reasonable steps" to destroy that information first. Estate sale companies fall squarely within that obligation.

Failure to comply exposes estate operators to civil liability of up to $10,000 per incident in damages — and the Washington Consumer Protection Act adds a second layer of statutory exposure.

Many estate companies are unaware this law applies to them. The ones who are aware often have no practical way to fulfill it.

The gap

Enterprise data destruction services exist — but they're built for corporations disposing of hundreds of devices at a time. They don't show up at a house in Spokane for three laptops and a box of DVD backups.

Until now, there’s been on service to help prepare for the proper handling and destruction of sensitive personal data before an estate is involved.

What EDH does

Evergreen Data Harbor was built to close that gap. We come to you, inventory every device and piece of media, and handle it according to NIST SP 800-88 standards — the same standard that satisfies RCW 19.215's "reasonable steps" requirement. Every device gets a Certificate of Destruction. Every engagement is documented.

One call. One visit. Done right.

This page describes Washington State law as a matter of general information and does not constitute legal advice.