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URBANDALE, Iowa — A stroll down the aisles of Electronic Asset Security is like taking a trip back in time.

“We’ve got everything from first generation items coming in from many, many years ago to brand new items that have broken and can’t be used anymore,” co-owner Nicole Schwegler said.

From towers of computer towers, to what once was cutting edge technology, even that massive television you watched as a kid and nobody ever wanted to move, it’s all here.

“We’re going to break each computer down to its original components,” Schwegler said. “We’re trying to grab stuff that has already been thrown away and we’re trying to get it back out of the stream so things aren’t getting leached down into the landfills.”

Their space has quickly filled up.

“When we first got this space we thought we had tons of room, and a few city events and getting clients at the banks and hospitals and stuff like that, it has filled up very quickly and we have already gotten rid of ten times this much,” Schwelger said.

For the past two years in business the process is simple: give them the stuff you don’t want and they’ll try to recycle. Items with sensitive data are destroyed.

“We’ve got to be very detail oriented. We can’t miss anything,” co-owner Paul Schwelger said.

Starting January 1 of 2025, thousands of Iowa companies will need to ensure they don’t miss anything when it comes to protecting personal customer data.

“I think they’re going to have to get serious about their security. What we do here is just one part of it, the disposal. They’re going to need to train their employees, they’re going to need adequate security, they’re going to need adequate software, adequate hardware. You can’t cheap out anymore,” Paul Schwelger said.

Under the Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act, singed into law in March of 2023, any Iowa based company handling more than 100,000 consumer records or generates 50% or more of its revenue from the sale of personal information is subject to fines up to $7,500 per infraction if that information is leaked.

“Every time you go somewhere and use a credit card they gather your name, your phone number, your address, anything like that, private data that may identify you. The goal is the businesses responsible for that data is not getting leaked from them,” Nicole Schwegler said.

Nicole and Paul say the upfront cost to protect customer data far outweighs the penalties companies can incur if a breach happens.

“7,500 dollars per record, I mean, it could put you out of business,” Paul Schwelger said.