US 2026/0030734 A1Published application

Secure disposal of computing devices via automated hard drive destruction

AssigneeBank of America Corporation

InventorsKyle Mayers, Elizabeth R. Liuzzo, Justin Miller

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Abstract

A self-service means for securely and efficiently destroying computing devices, specifically the permanent storage/memory devices/units within such computing devices. An apparatus, such as a kiosk receives a user's computing device and, in response, an image-capturing device(s) is activated to capture images of the computing device. The captured images serve as inputs to Machine Learning (ML) models that have been trained to determine/predict the location of permanent storage/memory devices/units within the computing devices. Once the location has been determined, a physical destruction element is activated at the determined/predicted location to destroy the permanent storage/memory devices/units.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for secure physical destruction of computing devices, the apparatus comprising:

a housing having a receptacle configured to receive a computing device from a user;
a computing platform disposed within the housing and comprising:
a memory;
one or more computing processor devices in communication with the memory;
at least one image capturing device in communication with at least one of the one or more computing processor devices;
a physical destruction element in communication with at least one of the one or more computing processor devices;
a storage device location-determining module including one or more trained Machine Learning (ML) models, wherein the storage device location-determining module is stored in the memory, executable by at least one of the one or more computing processor devices and is configured to:
activate the at least one image capturing device to capture one or more first images of the computing device,
using the captured one or more first images of the computing device, execute one or more first ML models from amongst the one or more trained ML models to determine or predict a location for at least one permanent storage device within the computing device, wherein the least one permanent storage device includes at least one of a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive on non-volatile flash memory;
and
a physical destruction module stored in the memory, executable by at least one of the one or more computing processor devices and is configured to:
receive the location for the least one permanent storage device within computing device, and
activate the physical destruction element at the location to physically destroy the at least one permanent storage device within the computing device.

10 more elements

A computer-implemented method for secure physical destruction of computing devices, the computer-implemented method executed by one or more computing processor device and comprising:

activating at least one image capturing device disposed within a housing to capture one or more first images of a computing device located within the housing;
using the captured one or more first images of the computing device to execute one or more first ML models to determine or predict a location for at least one permanent storage device within the computing device, wherein the least one permanent storage device includes at least one of a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive on non-volatile flash memory;
and
in response to determining or predicting the location, activating a physical destruction element disposed within the housing at the location to physically destroy the at least one permanent storage device within the computing device.

1 more element

A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising sets of codes for causing one or more computing devices to:

activate at least one image capturing device disposed within a housing to capture one or more first images of a computing device located within the housing;
use the captured one or more first images of the computing device to execute one or more first ML models to determine or predict a location for at least one permanent storage device within the computing device, wherein the least one permanent storage device includes at least one of a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive on non-volatile flash memory;
and
activate a physical destruction element disposed within the housing at the location to physically destroy the at least one permanent storage device within the computing device.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/782,885Filed 24 Jul 2024
Published: 29 Jan 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

G06T 7/0004
Inspection of images, e.g. flaw detection: industrial image inspection
G06F 21/44
Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals: program or device authentication
G06F 21/88
Protecting specific internal or peripheral components, in which the protection of a component leads to protection of the entire computer:…
G06T 7/60
Image analysis: analysis of geometric attributes

Family

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