Could our business be responsible for a breach of privacy?

We’re all at risk of privacy breaches, because we all store personal information of some kind – about staff, clients, prospects, patients or others. So long as we are storing personal information, we must be aware that we are at risk of creating a privacy breach.

I could discuss the security in place on PCs and servers in the SME sector but I’ll leave that for another day. Instead, I want to focus on how to go about disposing your data storage devices. Just look around your office and think about how many hard drives are around; CDs, DVDs, USB sticks, tapes, removable hard drives… the list goes on.

The legitimacy of the following video is questionable but it does serve as food for thought regarding how pervasive personal data can be in our systems, and how seldom we stop to think about this data as the machine leaves our office doors.

Okay, so it’s about scanned documents being found on the hard drives of photocopiers, yet it serves as a warning to all of us about the places we mindlessly store our private data and how we should go about ensuring it is removed responsibly.

In small businesses, all too often we try to recover every possible cent spent on computers. We may sell an old PC, or are just as likely to take an old office computer home for the kids or the neighbour’s kids or perhaps our favourite charitable group, because we like to help out.

But how often do we stop to think about where the hard drive will end up and what data might be on it?

As business owners, we are responsible for ensuring the security of personal information collected and so it is essential that we manage the safe destruction of those old hard drives. The machines themselves have little or no real value, but the data on them could cost us far more than the value of the reused machine, should it fall into the wrong hands.

So, when it comes to PCs, servers and other office devices with hard drives, it’s essential that we seek ethical recyclers, who will ensure data is destroyed no matter how unimportant that data may seem. While we’re at it, we should ensure that the recyclers are looking after the planet as well.

We’re still sending shiploads of old technology to third-world countries, where the components are dissembled by hand to recover precious metals and other components, creating toxic villages and sick people.

So, I urge you to think about your technology as you dispose of it.

David Markus is the founder of Combo - the IT services company that ensures IT is never an impediment to growth.