Granny_v

Q: secure empty trash in El Capitan?

The 'Secure empty trash' option seems to have disappeared since upgrading.  Has anybody else had this problem?

intel iMac

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 3:01 AM

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Q: secure empty trash in El Capitan?

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  • by thunderzzz,Apple recommended

    thunderzzz thunderzzz Oct 7, 2015 12:25 AM in response to Granny_v
    Level 6 (8,379 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 7, 2015 12:25 AM in response to Granny_v

    Secure empty trash option is not available in El Capitan. 

  • by Granny_v,Apple recommended

    Granny_v Granny_v Oct 7, 2015 2:04 AM in response to Granny_v
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 7, 2015 2:04 AM in response to Granny_v

    It would appear that this is now built in and automatic so everything is 'securely trashed'

  • by Russell Chea,

    Russell Chea Russell Chea Oct 10, 2015 11:21 AM in response to Granny_v
    Level 1 (38 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2015 11:21 AM in response to Granny_v

    has Apple verified this or have any of the Apple publications verified it?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 10, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Granny_v
    Level 10 (141,331 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Granny_v

    If you're getting this message with some of your files

    Safari002.jpg

    go to the Trash bin, open, Control (right) - click on the file and select Delete Immediately from the contextual menu. 

    Finder001.jpg

     

    Or use the Option+Command+Delete key combination. 

    OTsig.png

  • by Granny_v,

    Granny_v Granny_v Oct 10, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Russell Chea
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Russell Chea

    Russell Chear - I went onto Chat in Apple Support and they gave me the answer that is is done automatically.

  • by Granny_v,

    Granny_v Granny_v Oct 10, 2015 1:16 PM in response to Russell Chea
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 1:16 PM in response to Russell Chea

    Russell, Thank you for your reply,  I went to Apple Support and Chat - they confirmed that 'secure trash' was built into OS X El Capitan.  

  • by Children's Author,

    Children's Author Children's Author Oct 16, 2015 10:43 PM in response to Granny_v
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 10:43 PM in response to Granny_v

    The reasoning that Apple, Inc. gives for removing the “Secure Empty Trash” button in its El Capitan OS update is:

     

    Description: An issue existed in guaranteeing secure deletion of Trash files on some systems, such as those with flash storage. This issue was addressed by removing the "Secure Empty Trash" option.

    CVE-ID

    CVE-2015-5901 : Apple

    Reference:: About the security content of OS X El Capitan - Apple Support

     

    That’s like Ford saying, “We could not guarantee that seatbelts would work properly in the Fusion, so we removed seatbelts from all of our vehicles.”

     

    In my opinion, a better solution would have been for Apple to write a code that adds the “Secure Empty Trash” feature, but also includes a friendly pop-up reminder that appears whenever flash storage devices are erased (emptied from the trash). Such a notice might say:

     

    Due to their design, Flash Storage Devices do not qualify for “Secure Deletion.”

     

    Personally, I would prefer to have some secure file deletion, especially on my Mac hard drive, as opposed to none.

  • by petermac87,

    petermac87 petermac87 Oct 16, 2015 11:08 PM in response to Children's Author
    Level 5 (7,402 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 11:08 PM in response to Children's Author

    Yes, we saw your opinion in every other identical post you have opted to every thread on the topic. You have been given answers in some of them. I will leave it to you to find which ones contain the answers. Regardless, it has gone for good reason.

     

    Pete

  • by !cultOfApple,

    !cultOfApple !cultOfApple Oct 20, 2015 12:01 PM in response to Granny_v
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 20, 2015 12:01 PM in response to Granny_v

    "Secure Empty Trash" is gone as per their posting:

     

    Anyway, as long as UNIX is still around, here are 3 commands you could use - you could also create an alias for anyone of these...

    1. rm -rP /<path>
    2. srm -rfv -s /path (try the m and z switches for more options)
    3. diskutil secureErase freespace LEVEL /Volumes/<drive>
  • by Steve_SE23,

    Steve_SE23 Steve_SE23 Nov 4, 2015 9:13 AM in response to !cultOfApple
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 9:13 AM in response to !cultOfApple

    I suspect the reason they have done this is that the controllers built into SSDs dynamically distribute files across the memory to even out degradation. Overwriting which is what secure empty trash did becomes a bit of a problem in this case. Since SSD control firmware is proprietary don't hold your breath.

  • by annabelle,

    annabelle annabelle Nov 15, 2015 4:32 PM in response to Granny_v
    Level 3 (520 points)
    Apple Watch
    Nov 15, 2015 4:32 PM in response to Granny_v

    There is an app Permanent Eraser that does the job, it's free and has a contextual menu too

    You don't even need to put the file in the trash,

    just option-click  the file and choose ERASE

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Nov 15, 2015 7:06 PM in response to Granny_v
    Level 9 (50,379 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 15, 2015 7:06 PM in response to Granny_v

    Granny_v wrote:

     

    Russell Chear - I went onto Chat in Apple Support and they gave me the answer that is is done automatically.

    Then you either misunderstood or were talking to someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

    Try putting a multi-gigabyte file in the Trash and empty it. It will happen instantaneously which could not possibly happen if it was writing over the storage location multiple times.

  • by etbarron,

    etbarron etbarron Feb 7, 2016 6:34 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 7, 2016 6:34 AM in response to Barney-15E

    Good answers by !cultofApple and Eric Root!  This is one more of the many examples during the past year + of Apple's  deterioration in software quality. The results are showing in decreasing customer satisfaction, sales and revenue.  They desperately need to improve their Beta testing and QA policies and procedures for iOS and OSX  releases.

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