Using 'Secure Empty Trash' all the time?

[stevo1]

As I understand it, using Secure Empty Trash has the following effect:

Benefit: it ensures files are really deleted and cannot be recovered.
Drawback: it takes longer to complete than a normal Empty Trash.

My question is, are there any other benefits or drawbacks to using Secure Empty Trash instead of the regular one? What about the effect on my system/hard drive/file structure?

I'm assuming if there's any effect, it could just be negligible - but I'm curious nonetheless.

(For the record, no I don't spend all day working with dodgy stuff! I'm just thinking about efficiency and the lifespan and speed of my Mac)

 

[Jason S.]

If the data being deleted isn't that import, use the regular Empty Trash method. Secure Empty Trash writes over the data being deleted numerous times instead of the regular one time, which could lead to a faster rate of hard drive failure if you use it all the time. Of course, this is probably very unlikely.

 

[scienide09]

(For the record, no I don't spend all day working with dodgy stuff! I'm just thinking about efficiency and the lifespan and speed of my Mac)

Then you don't want to continuously secure erase your drive. There's no need, especially if you have nothing to hide. Doing this is fairly hard on the drive when compared to normal use. If you're doing it a lot, it will reduce the lifespan.

 

[stevo1]

Was wondering whether it had a similar effect to defragmenting the drive, and if there was any benefit to doing it. But no, I don't need to do it for most things, so thanks for the info.

 

[aaronw1986]

Was wondering whether it had a similar effect to defragmenting the drive, and if there was any benefit to doing it. But no, I don't need to do it for most things, so thanks for the info.

Sounds to me like you already know the pros and cons from the initial post.

 

[Jason S.]

Was wondering whether it had a similar effect to defragmenting the drive, and if there was any benefit to doing it. But no, I don't need to do it for most things, so thanks for the info.

Doing a defrag yourself on OS X is actually said to make the computer slower. OS X defrags on the fly.