Active Privacy Guardian offers 6 levels of washing algorithms. The Wipe Algorithm determines how securely your files are washed. Each algorithm consists of special wipe characters that are designed to permanently remove any faint magnetic signals that still may exist even though the file was wiped with zeros. So what is a wipe? Wiping means each item is overwritten with special codes before deleting. A simple wipe such as "Pseudo Random" only wipes the items once with random characters. Special hardware can still recover that data from your hard drive even though the item was wiped once with random data. If you need to guarantee that your data is wiped, then you might want to uses the US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306. /E) 3 pass wipe or better.

Below is a description of all six Algorithms:

No Wipe - This is the lowest security level. This means each item is only deleted, not wiped. When a file is wiped, it is overwritten with data to assure that nobody can recover the data. After a file is wiped, it is then deleted. Although in the case of No Wipe, there is no wipe process. Files are only deleted. No Wipe is the fastest, since it does not have to wipe each file first.

Wipe files with Zeroes before deleting - This is the second security level. It is a one-pass wipe, which means each file is wiped one time during a wash. Each file is overwritten with zeros before deletion.

Pseudo Random - This is the third security level, although not really much more secure than level two. It is also a one-pass wipe, which means each file is wiped one time during a wash. In this case, each file is overwritten with Pseudo Random data before deletion.

US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306. /E) - This is the fourth security level and a lot more secure than levels three, two, and one. It is a three-pass wipe, which means each file is wiped three times during a wash. In this case, each file is overwritten with a special sequence of codes before deletion. This security level is more secured, but slower.

US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306. /E, C & E) - This is the fifth security level and even more secure than level four. It is a seven-pass wipe, which means each file is wiped seven times during a wash. In this case, each file is overwritten with a special sequence of codes before deletion.

Peter Gutmann - This is the highest security level that goes far beyond government requirements. It is a thirty-five (35) pass wipe! That means each file is wiped 35 times during a wash. Each file is overwritten with a special sequence of codes, as designed by Peter Gutmann, before deletion. This security level is extremely secure, but extremely slow.

See the Features page for more features.