One in 10 second-hand hard drives in U.K. contain personal data
A study by the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office found that more than one in 10 second hand hard drives sold or given away in Britain contains recoverable personal information of the original owner.
Upon releasing the the results of the study this week, the data protection regulatory agency urged consumers to take better care of their data. It also released a list of ways individuals can securely delete personal information from old devices.
"Many people will presume that pressing the delete button on a computer file means that it is gone forever," U.K. Information Commissioner Christopher Graham in a statement. "However this information can easily be recovered," The ICO is the independent regulatory agency that oversees compliance with the U.K. Data Protection Act of 1998. Their investigation found that 11% of used drives being resold contained residual personal information.
