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Every photocopy stored, ready for download

A massive thank you and hat-tip to Vince for sending us the following video from CBS News in America – it has some truly shocking revelations that have serious consequences for personal privacy in the UK:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

By Dylan Sharpe

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Privacy
  • David

    It’s pretty much the same risk when a firm disposes of it’s PC’s.
    You can specify that the disk in the copy machine/print station is encrypted, but the vendor usually adds a hefty markup.

  • NeverSurrender

    Ooh! Scary stuff indeed! I have sent the warning below onto everyone I know and I suggest that everyone else sends on something similar. I was totally unaware of this problem until I watched the CBS report. I think that most people will be completely unaware of this problem too which is very alarming.
    Warning!
    There is a serious security problem with digital photocopiers. They store everything that they copy on a hard drive. When you renew your digital photocopier it usually goes onto the second hand market to be resold but, the hard drive is rarely erased because most people do not even know that it is there. The person who buys your old photocopier will have access to every single document that your machine has ever photocopied. These could be financial details, medical records, police files e.t.c. This is a major security problem of which everyone should be aware whether you own a digital photocopier or not. Your personal, private information is at risk from these machines. If your information is copied by them or if you use one everything that you copy is at risk. You must make sure that their hard drives are securely erased before you allow your digital photocopier to be exchanged or resold otherwise you could be responsible for a serious data breach.

  • Sean

    The only way to effectively ‘destroy’ a hard-disk is to zero the disk to US-DOD standards or better (there are many out there) and have it shredded. There are many services for this available to businesses.

  • Purlieu

    A large hammer is the low tech solution.

  • Brian

    For most people I would recommend CCleaner, which is available as a free download. It has DOD and NSA ‘cleaning’ options. It can be used to clean specific files or entire hard drives. Another useful program is Eraser – also free.

  • SplendidT

    According to a friend who is an IT expert this can also be a problem with workgroup laser printers and some inkjet printers.
    He said, “These machines often contain hard drives a fact that is not disclosed to the user nor do manufacturers provide a method for erasing them. The only way that this can be done is to dismantle the machine, remove the HD, put it in an enclosure and, erase it from your computer. This is fine for normal levels of security but, the most secure way to ensure that all data is gone is to smash the platters inside the HD into pieces with a hammer.
    Manufacturers really should alert people to this problem. It could easily be remedied if data were erased by default. That would prevent all but the most skilled fraudster from getting their hands on your information. The problem and the solution both lie with the manufacturers. It is entirely their fault!”