By Steven Sandberg
 
May 11, 2010
 
The average person stores almost all of their personal information on their computer in some form or another.
 
When it's time to get rid of the old machine, computer users will try to make sure their personal data remains in their safekeeping by erasing everything off the computer. But how much of it is really gone?
 
MEDFORD, Ore. - Keeping your data safe from identity thieves is not as simple as throwing your old documents into a paper shredder.
 
Once your personal information is put into your hard drive, it will leave an electronic trail. If the right steps are not taken, that trail can lead identity thieves straight to your hard drive.
 
Like many others, Alan is selling his old computer online, 100 percent intact. A quick scan of a site like Craigslist gives you hundreds of people looking to unload their old electronics. To keep his information from falling into the wrong hands, Alan says he took some extra steps to wipe the hard drive clean.
 
"I did what they call a deep level format with the Windows system. Cleaned everything off and reinstalled the operating system and the software so that there was nothing ... so that it would all be gone," Alan said.
 
Alan thinks he's done all he can to keep his data safe.
 
"It's gone, and I'm pretty sure of that. So I'm not worried about it," Alan said.
 
However, experts disagree.
 
"Whether or not you format it, or leave it as is, it's easily retrievable," said Jason Kellogg with Connecting Point Computer Center.
 
Kellogg says that no matter how thoroughly you think you've deleted your information, there is still a chance it can be obtained by an identity thief, if they get ahold of your hard drive.
 
"Unless it's erased using a number of methods that actually write to every sector on the hard drive, data is still retrievable in some fashion," Kellogg said.
 
Once someone has your hard drive, all sorts of private information is at risk, including e-mail, online bank information, personal files including documents, pictures, and music, and even your internet browsing history. Experts say that just because you delete something, does not mean that it's gone.
 
"If somebody really wants to get data off of your hard drive, they're going to get it," Kellogg said.
 
NewsWatch 12 decided to put this to the test. It took an old computer to a licensed technician, opened it up to see just what secrets are still inside, hidden on the hard drive.
 
We plugged in the hard drive and formatted it, essentially erasing the contents of all the personal files.
 
Then Kellogg pulled out a data recovery program.
 
"Anybody can buy them. They're on the open market. So you don't have to have a special license or degree or anything like that to own these types of programs," Kellogg said.
 
Once it's used on a hard drive, everything starts rushing back. Within seconds of starting the data recovery program, it had already found more than 15,000 files from a hard drive that had been formatted and erased only minutes earlier.
 
By the end of the program, everything we thought we had erased had been recovered. E-mails, pictures, documents, programs, all of it. The so-called "sure-fire" hard drive erasing methods didn't do a thing, and similar formatting programs on the market are equally as ineffective.
 
"They have been hacked, cracked, circumvented in some way that makes them not 100 percent safe," Kellogg said.
 
So if it's that easy for someone to take your information, what are you supposed to do with your hard drive when you're done with it?
 
"The only 100 percent safe way to make sure your data is secure is to keep or destroy the drive. Make sure your data, your physical media doesn't fall into the wrong hands," Kellogg said.
 
Rogue Disposal says more people and businesses are wanting to get their hard drives crushed.
 
"Hard drives are being used in a bad way to steal people's identity. So people are starting to take notice and our volume, of course, is increasing because of it," said Mike Jacobson with Rogue Disposal.
 
The state of Oregon is also taking an interest in keeping electronic information safe. The e-cycle law became mandatory in January. Since then, Rogue Disposal has been flooded with old towers, monitors and hard drives.
Each item is destroyed thoroughly and not dumped in a landfill, ensuring that there will not be any sort of security breach.
 
"You don't want to have it dropped off at some facility and not know where it's going, where it's being shipped, what's happened with the materials. You want to know and have that sense of security that it's been taken care of properly," said Wendel Smith with Rogue Transfer and Recycling.
 
Experts say you shouldn't trust any program that claims to be able to erase your hard drive.