Old Data - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

8 Apr 1998

At 01:25 AM 4/7/98 -0500, you wrote:
...
   Except, that
people may feel it's easier (and/or safer) to just destroy the
 machine than it is to try and make sure no one can read their data.  What 
It's rarely done, most people aren't that superstitious of electronic
machines.

Perhaps not in the past, but now that the average village idiot is using
quicken and tax programs...  They may not have used Dad's imsai, but they
don't know that his old tax returns aren't in that old box.

...
   I agree that
people should be responsible for their own data, but I also
 feel that we, as collectors, need to hold ourselves to a higher standard,
 so that people will feel comfortable giving us their old machines. 
If they actually gave us the machines. Most times they're swapped or sold
cheaply.

Whether or not they give them for free or for $, they have to feel
comfortable doing it, or they won't do it.

...
 Bad similarity...no one is paying you for
confidentiality. 
Okay, surely you know someone to whom you don't tell anything personal
because you know it'll be all over the office/neighborhood/local news
within the hour.  If people don't believe they can turn over their
computers without having to worry about their tax returns showing up on the
internet, they won't do it.

...
 > Most of the people here probably know how to wipe
a hard drive so it can't
> be read.  (My best guess is a low-level format, then fill it with worthless
> data?  Good thing I have nothing to hide!)  But the average AOL user
> doesn't.  When Grandpa passes on, you don't want the grandkids trashing all

...
 And many have had to use level 3 read/write data
destruction if they've worked for
...
 the government. If the goverment is required to insure
a clean machine to the
point of even installing a new hard disk prior to public sale, why should the
average Joe be protected in his or her sloppy handling of their private matters.
...
 If you get right down to it they risk public viewing
just by installing anything
...
 on the hard disk and connecting to the net. 
I'm not advocating responsibility for the user's sake.  If you care about
the neighbors seeing you nekkid, pull down the damn shades.  The reason I
advocate it is because I don't want my neighbors boarding up their windows
because they don't know if pulling down the shades is enough.  

I don't want people trashing significant machines because they heard about
someone who knew someone who had a friend who heard about someone who gave
a computer to a collector, and then those quickcam pics of the wife au
naturel (that he thought he deleted) ended up on the 'net.  Whether or not
its true, and whether or not someone has pics like that, doesn't matter.
The technoidiots will trash machines rather than take any risks.

Don't believe me?  Ever heard of the Good Times virus?

...
 Not more of the one, but a picture or two of each
machine. I realize you're just
...
 working on the site but a picture really makes the site
interesting to those not
...
 familiar with the machines. A prefect example is the
dual drive on a Rainbow. How
...
 many people can even grasp the thought of putting a
floppy in right way in one
...
 slot, upside down in the other? 
I'm working on that.  I've got 6 rolls of film to go to Price Club this
week.  Then I have to scan them, edit/crop/resize them, build a list of the
pics (with dimensions and captions), come up with some snappy text, look
for some links, and dig up the specs of the machine so I can build the web
page.  Whew.  Don't worry, I'll get there.  8^)

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roger(a)sinasohn.com                           that none but madmen know."
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