Dealers Cautioned Over Identity Theft from Copier Hard Drives

Dealers Cautioned Over Identity Theft from Copier Hard Drives

WANADA members are being cautioned to take care when disposing of used copiers because personal information may be stored on them and can be hijacked by identity thieves. The warning is being issued by Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler following news reports of used copiers being sold or recycled with hard drives storing confidential personal information from copies made using the photocopier and thieves hacking into them.

Maryland laws requires businesses that maintain personal information to protect that information and dispose of it in a manner that renders its unreadable. Disposing of a copier with personal information stored on the hard drive would violate that obligation. Gansler notes it can also be considered a security breach, in which case notice must be given to consumers as soon as reasonably practicable following an investigation. That notice must be by mail or telephone and must include the following: a description of the information compromised; contact information for the business; toll-free numbers and addresses for credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; toll-free numbers, addresses and websites for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG); and a statement that the individual can obtain information from these sources about steps to avoid identity theft.

Gansler urges anyone disposing of a photocopier to scrub information from the hard drive, before doing so.

Additional information is available at: www.oag.state.md.us/idtheft/copiersecurity.pdf