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
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.
13 Comments on Best Buy destroys HDDs... do they?
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
then i shatter them once they're nice and crispy. security is delicious!
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).
IMO a hammer will work just fine to destroy the info. If you really want to have fun shoot it.