So just because you clean up your hard drive and get rid of it, does it mean you are safe? If you say, "Yes," then....you might want to check some things out and do some research.
This article is about what can be recovered from a hard drive and how much damage you need to inflict to make the HD unrecoverable.
Normal everyday hazards such as dipping it in liquid or dropping it will not make the hard drive unrecoverable, but it will take a professional to get everything back to you.
On the other hand, smashing it and running it over with a car, like the people at the BBC did, may do the job.
So for privacy's sake, if you are getting rid of a computer, do something with the hard drive. Someone can find all your information even if you think the hard drive is erased or destroyed.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The New Frontier for spam...
Interesting article from Canada.com. Yes, Canada...but it also applies to the U.S. so North Americans beware.
So e-mail spamming and tracking services are not enough. Now this company, which will remain nameless unless you read the article, wants to offer free phone service. The catch: They listen to what you have to say and then spam you (SPAM is being used by myself, not the article but...yeah anyway....moving on). They send you things based on your conversation. So if you are a Yankees fan be prepared for e-mails or whatever about "Buy Yankees souvenirs here." Or the example from the article...talking about a new movie gets you a message taking you to see the trailer for it.
The company thinks this is a good idea, but is this a problem for anyone else? This is a huge privacy issue as far as I am concerned. It is difficult enough to protect yourself while surfing the Internet, but now this Internet-based phone is adding a whole new dimension of privacy issues. What if I am placing an order over the phone? Then my information is freely available to whoever, or whatever is listening in. Can they be trusted that all private information stays private? How do I know my credit card number doesn't get picked up by someone listening?
The article discusses how they must follow the country's privacy laws and tell people exactly what information is being used, filtered, etc etc. Being the paranoid person I am, I wouldn't put my faith in the privacy policy. "Oops, we forgot to filter out the phone sex conversation with your wife or the credit card number you used to book the hotel for you next vacation."
Free phone service...just sign here saying: "I forfeit my right to anonymity and privacy but since I get to make free phone calls it is alright by me."
So e-mail spamming and tracking services are not enough. Now this company, which will remain nameless unless you read the article, wants to offer free phone service. The catch: They listen to what you have to say and then spam you (SPAM is being used by myself, not the article but...yeah anyway....moving on). They send you things based on your conversation. So if you are a Yankees fan be prepared for e-mails or whatever about "Buy Yankees souvenirs here." Or the example from the article...talking about a new movie gets you a message taking you to see the trailer for it.
The company thinks this is a good idea, but is this a problem for anyone else? This is a huge privacy issue as far as I am concerned. It is difficult enough to protect yourself while surfing the Internet, but now this Internet-based phone is adding a whole new dimension of privacy issues. What if I am placing an order over the phone? Then my information is freely available to whoever, or whatever is listening in. Can they be trusted that all private information stays private? How do I know my credit card number doesn't get picked up by someone listening?
The article discusses how they must follow the country's privacy laws and tell people exactly what information is being used, filtered, etc etc. Being the paranoid person I am, I wouldn't put my faith in the privacy policy. "Oops, we forgot to filter out the phone sex conversation with your wife or the credit card number you used to book the hotel for you next vacation."
Free phone service...just sign here saying: "I forfeit my right to anonymity and privacy but since I get to make free phone calls it is alright by me."
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