Can Data On Hard Drive Always Be Recovered

A reporter for NBC Action News in Kansas City has done a piece on the assertion that once data is written to a hard drive it can never be erased even by the application of commercial programs that advertize that they can over write data with chaotic data streams that comply with DOD Standards for disc sanitation
Here is the story: Good Question: Hard Drive Cleanup

I was previously sold a product called Drive Washer by Stompsoftâ„¢ which I was told would over write the drive so that the data cannot be recovered.

I have observed others referring to a free utility called Eraser.
My question is this.

Can the data be recovered after use of these and similar products?

I use these products but I also use AES 256 from the first keystroke to the last on a hard drive and never create plain text files.

I am hopeful that this increases my security even though I am aware that encryption is not a defense against key loggers.

My use of the products is a hold over from when I was an insurance adjuster and the disc held private information that was subject to the privacy act.

The reporter did a piece on email security in which he talked about the fact that email is passed in plain text over many servers and is subject to interception.

He never did mention email encryption. He did say in the piece that he would post on his blog about the safest way to protect your private information in emails and never did.

I send him an email telling him about both RSA and PGP email encryption.

He never acknowledged it.

I posted a response on their blog and it was never published.

 

Any Verifiable Evidence

Is there any one who can quote an example of a real world verifiable incidence in which any one has recovered data from a hard drive after it was over written with a random data stream that met DOD standards?

 

I'm quite certain there are commercial apps which can recover virtually anything, but you more than likely cannot afford to use use the service.

These would be the kinds of tools the military and other hi security agencies use.

But I can't say I know of any app specifically. Like TonyT said, DoD compliant does not meant it's totally unrecoverable, just that it meets those standards.

I'd be willing to bet they stopped using those types of software once the public got their hands on that tech.

Groups the likes of DARPA have been long ahead of the curve.