Friday, June 2nd 2006

Best Buy destroys HDDs... do they?

A year ago, Henry and Roma Gerbus took their computer to Best Buy in Springfield Township to have its hard drive replaced. Henry Gerbus said Best Buy assured him the computer's old hard drive - loaded with personal information - would be destroyed. "They said rest assured. They drill holes in it so it's useless," said Gerbus.

A few months ago, Gerbus got a phone call from a man in Chicago. "He said, 'My name is Ed. I just bought your hard drive for $25 at a flea market in Chicago,'" said Gerbus. "I thought my world was coming down." Gerbus and his wife had good reason to worry. A total stranger had access to the couple's personal information, including Social Security numbers, bank statements and investment records.

Through information listed on the hard drive, the man in Chicago was able to contact the couple. Gerbus received the hard drive a few weeks later.

Target 5's Tom Sussi contacted Best Buy to figure out how the Gerbus' hard drive wound up at a flea market outside Chicago. Best Buy issued the following statement to Target 5. "Our company values and places the utmost importance on maintaining the privacy of our customers. We will fully investigate these allegations."

In the meantime, Gerbus said he hopes the couple's private information didn't fall into the wrong hands.
Source: Yahoo News
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13 Comments on Best Buy destroys HDDs... do they?

#1
zekrahminator
McLovin
More proof that best buy doesn't have a clue how to do anything. You know, I think that you could have gotten the same amount of data removal while keeping an operational drive by...reformatting? Duh :p. I wonder what other stupid things Best Buy does when someone gives their computer to them. Thanks for the good find D_o_S.
Posted on Reply
#2
SiCk
format c:? thanks!
Posted on Reply
#3
Corrosion
good thing i can do all my own work, the geeks r retards anyway. not all but the ones in minnesota are.
Posted on Reply
#4
POGE
They arent even supposed to drill holes. The data can still be recovered. Where I work, I'm sometimes put on the job of wiping drives, and they wont let us physically destroy them. They make us format the drive 7 times and write random 1's and 0's on it, using a special "boot nuke" cd.
Posted on Reply
#5
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
I just use Deriks boot and nuke it takes like 4 hours depending on the size of your drive but id like to see someone try to recover data after that is done.
Posted on Reply
#6
oldschool
It's a wonder Best Buy stays in business after being convicted of fraud so many times.
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#7
Darksaber
Senior Editor & Case Reviewer
Well I think the tech at best buy just sold the hard drive privately instead of destroying it.

but why would you want BB to keep your old hard drive? I would ask BB to return the old drive along with the PC...

cheers
DS
Posted on Reply
#8
FLY3R
That would piss me off so much, good thing i keep to personal information on my hard drives, its all in my head>.
Posted on Reply
#9
i_am_mustang_man
my fav way to trash a hard drive is take it apart, and take the platters to the campfire! (or torch if i'm not in the camping mood, more of a at-home-pyro sometimes)

then i shatter them once they're nice and crispy. security is delicious!
Posted on Reply
#10
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
The best/easiest way to destroy a hard drive is to chop it in half using a metal cutting blade in a chop saw. Takes about 30 seconds to go right down the middle of the drive and chances of getting data back is slim.

If you want to remove data and still have a useable drive then formatting and doing several 0 and 1 passes(I believe 7 passes is the FBI standard, but I could be wrong).
Posted on Reply
#11
zekrahminator
McLovin
i_am_mustang_manmy fav way to trash a hard drive is take it apart, and take the platters to the campfire! (or torch if i'm not in the camping mood, more of a at-home-pyro sometimes)

then i shatter them once they're nice and crispy. security is delicious!
Hammers, firecrackers, and water FTW :D.
Posted on Reply
#12
Jimmy 2004
FLY3RThat would piss me off so much, good thing i keep to personal information on my hard drives, its all in my head>.
So how are you planning to get rid of that personal information when you get a new one?:laugh:
Posted on Reply
#13
65tweet
Whenever you return something to a department store the things go to a person who usually works alone. Their job is to put it back out on the floor or notify the manufacturer of the defect, get credit (money) and then destroy the item. The “destroyed” items then are sometimes sold to employees for dirt cheap and the store makes a little money or the person just outright walks out the door with it because they aren’t watched. If you are stupid enough to just give a stranger all your personal information and trust they will do the right thing you will get what you deserve.
IMO a hammer will work just fine to destroy the info. If you really want to have fun shoot it.
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