This method of automatically deleting data written in the memory of the data storage device advantageously makes it possible to ensure the transitory nature of the storage of data placed in the memory of the storage device by users who do not have the first user profile. The latter can thus be reassured, for example in the case where they wish to share sensitive data temporarily by storing them in the memory of a storage device controlled according to the proposed method, for the purposes of a presentation.

According to a first exemplary use, a USB key may have been configured to be controlled according to the method proposed in the present description. The USB key may have been configured in firmware mode, in other words a firmware-type driver is preloaded in memory, in which case this is an intelligent key as it can operate autonomously, i.e. without the need to load and run driver software on any computer to which the key is connected. Alternatively, the USB key may be a standard USB key and be used in driver mode, in other words it is controlled by the driver loaded and run on a computer to which the key is connected. The available memory in the key may have been partitioned to define a “drop zone” partition, and the partitions may have been formatted, possibly according to a proprietary scheme as described above. Alternatively, a “drop zone” may have been configured in one of the partitions of the memory space of the key. The driver for the key may have been configured to define a first user profile having all access rights to the memory of the key, including the “drop zone”, and to define a second user profile having access rights that only authorize writing data in the “drop zone” and obtaining information on the memory storage capacity available in the “drop zone”.