Our daily lives are inundated with such a quantity of data that we no longer think about how much information we have. Be it on our phones, our desktops, our laptops, or our flash drives, we carry the fingerprints of our digital and personal lives everywhere. More dangerously, many people leave these fingerprints everywhere. For the perceptive and opportunistic criminal, itโs as easy as rifling through the trash bin to steal your identity.
People habitually treat old hardware like a broken microwave or busted television set, carelessly tossing it out. But it is completely possible to recover personal information from discarded equipment. For example, many people will chuck a laptop because it has a broken screen, but a scavenger only needs a screwdriver to remove to laptopโs hard drive. He then has access to the files, passwords, browsing history, and every other aspect of your digital life. Donโt think that just because youโll never use that old floppy disk again, that no one else will. Old tax records saved emails, and other personal information can easily be lifted from discarded floppy disks.
If this information was on paper, youโd shred it before ever thinking of throwing it away. Likewise, for your own security, you should invest in a media crusher or eraser to totally destroy hard drives and data storage devices you no longer use. We have a wide range of products to ensure that you can protect your identity and digital privacy.
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Make sure that what you throw away really is just trash. If you have any questions about how our products can help keep you private and secure, please contact us.
