What is the primary goal of data sanitization?

The primary goal of data sanitization is to ensure that data is securely removed from storage devices so that it cannot be accessed or recovered by unauthorized users. This process involves not just the act of deleting or formatting but ensuring that the data is truly irretrievable.

Option B focuses on the verification aspect of the sanitization process, highlighting the necessity of confirming that data has been effectively wiped and is no longer accessible. This is crucial because simply deleting files might not be sufficient; advanced recovery techniques could still retrieve the data. Thus, verifying that data has been adequately sanitized is essential for maintaining security and compliance with privacy regulations.

Other options, while related to data management, do not accurately capture the essence of data sanitization. Destroying data completely is a part of some sanitization processes but does not encompass the verification necessary to ensure that data is unrecoverable. Backing up data securely is a different process focused on preserving data, and compressing data for storage is about storage efficiency rather than security or data removal. Therefore, ensuring that data is correctly wiped and confirmed as unrecoverable stands as the foremost objective of data sanitization.