Here's a piece from Yahoo that focuses on what your office photocopier may know about you. The short version is that many copiers store copies of documents in their memories and these documents can be accessed by a whole host of people (office personnel, repairmen, subsequent owners of the machine, thieves looking for such information when the copier is thrown away, etc.). The highlights:
Did you know that most office photocopiers are built to save digital images of documents? It's true.
When CBS News recently purchased some used photocopiers that were destined for new customers, their computer technician was able to easily retrieve thousands of pages of sensitive documents from their hard drives: perfect images of personal medical records, pay stubs, and tax forms -- even the blueprint of a building near Ground Zero and reports of sex and drug crimes from the Buffalo, N.Y., police department. There were home addresses, social security numbers, and medical histories aplenty.
The data isn't particularly easy to view and sort, but a thief who knows what he's looking for can download free software from the Internet that can be used to mine this treasure trove of personal data.
The article goes on to highlight:
- Many copier makers either provide or are working on providing encryption for stored documents. But even so, the copier administrator needs to know how to turn the encryption feature on.
- Fax machines also store information and can pose a similar problem.
So, what can you do?
The article suggests asking the copier administrator how the machine is set up before you use it. Yeah, like he's standing right there waiting for questions about copier security. Ha!
Personally, we use a combination printer/copier at home to make sensitive copies. Yes, the documents are probably stored on it as well, but at least we have some control over them.
We NEVER have sensitive documents copied at Kinkos, Staples, etc. because you never know where that information is going. One main problem I see over and over: people copying their tax returns at public places like these every year. Yikes!!!!
Let's face it, there's really nothing we can do to make our information completely safe in the technology age we live in. But by being a bit prudent, we can certainly do all we can to protect our vital personal information from identity thieves.
Every time I copy something sensitive work, afterwards I open up the copier and run an electromagnet all over all of the circuit boards - it erases everything. The next guy who uses the copier after me puts in a call to tech support. Two weeks later, the copier is ready to go again so I can copy another sensitive document.
Posted by: bobsmith | October 20, 2010 at 05:20 PM
Large business photocopiers have a physical hard drive, similar to that in a computer. Your home AIO is probably not a problem; smaller home copiers don't have any memory. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, the video attached to the referenced article is an eye openner and should be viewed.
The problem is that this has been going on for years, even before most people worried about personal security. And before most of us had copying capabilities in their homes.
But is it really surprising? Doesn't anyone remember this famous quote from 1999:
The chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems said Monday that consumer privacy issues are a "red herring."
"You have zero privacy anyway," Scott McNealy told a group of reporters and analysts Monday night at an event to launch his company's new Jini technology.
"Get over it."
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/1999/01/17538
One of the best things I can suggest is to get a credit freeze with all of the three credit reporting agencies. It may cost small fee, but provides much more security than any other single thing you can to to keep yourself safe from identity thieves, particularly those who are after (and will ruin) your hard-earned credit rating.
Posted by: KaseyD | October 20, 2010 at 06:52 PM
I think most people should just invest in an All-in-one printer at home. That way I can print, fax, and copy anything private at my house.
At work, I hate thinking sensitive work stuff is left in the copier, but it is the work copier...
Posted by: Robert | October 20, 2010 at 09:08 PM
There really is no such thing as "erasing" a hard disk, be it a copier or PC ot DVR etc. The data is just marked as 'deleted'. That's why you can undelete files if they haven't been overwritten yet. Even reformatting usually doesn't do it.
You need a 'wipe' program to actually overwrite the deleted data with nulls or something else. Norton Utilities long ago had such a program. Don't know if it still does.
Posted by: MasterPo | October 20, 2010 at 10:55 PM
I stopped using the company copiers at where I work at once I learned that little fact, unless it just company business. This is one way to get employees to use the company resources...
@MasterPo, yes there are plenty of "wipe" programs out there. Even some freeware ones... And they do as you describe in your last sentence...
Posted by: Money Reasons | October 21, 2010 at 01:36 AM
This has been known for years.
I agree with Robert--don't use the work copier for personal stuff, ever--just get yourself a printer/copier for your home.
Added bonus--you won't forget and leave your sensitive original documents in the copier feeder or on the glass.
This is the most likely form of privacy breach--and it's low tech. I'm always finding employees' personal originals in the copier--including medical, legal, & financial records. I found out one of our students had cancer this way--sad.
Posted by: KH | October 21, 2010 at 04:29 AM
So what do you do with the personal all-in-one copier when you decide you need to dispose of it? How do you "wipe" the data from it before recycling, disposing or giving it to someone else to use? I have already had to get rid of one of these because the scanner stopped working.
Posted by: Kathy F | October 21, 2010 at 03:26 PM