Magnetic USB – Is your Data Safe?

Concern has been raised over the past few months over the effects of having magnetised lids on a USB and whether, as is the case with floppy disk and hard drive media formats, this will cause problems with the data that one uploads.

The Drinks Can USB is a particularly good example of a magnetic USB  as the lid is quite heavily magnetised in comparison to other flash drives such as the Wooden USB range.

These concerns and are really unfounded for a simple reason. Flash drive memory is solid state and so has no moving parts and the data is stored as electrons and not changes in magnetic flux (as with floppy disks and hard drives). There is a direct quotation from Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association (CF cards use the same types of memory chips as USB sticks to store data) that gives humorous (if slightly scary!) comfort to the security of your USB data. He says:

“A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells”

To further add confidence to this statement, there are a range custom shaped magnetic USB on the market that also doubles as a fridge magnet.

An ideal product to maximise the print advertising space on your custom USB flash product, but also an ideal way to display your USBs at a show or event to catch the eye of any interested party.