Hard Drive sales on EBAY?

[ShadowMeow]

Why do people sell hard drives on EBAY with all the data still present?
Is it just the normal thing to do?
Do they even care?
Do they even realise?

 

[miquelfire]

Best case, they don't realize. Worst case, they don't care.

It's one, if not both.

 

[PHolder]

I think more people view a computer like a car. It's a device that does a thing, and when they don't give much thought to how it works inside or how they need to maintain it or dispose of it.

 

[Bplayer]

Or stolen.

 

[PHolder]

Or stolen.

Or I suppose someone died and the person looking after the estate didn't know how to properly dispose of the hardware.

 

[Fuzzball]

That's why I've got a 6" diameter ball of computer hard drive magnets. Since the 80's, family and friends have disposed of their old computers by letting me wipe and repurpose them to someone new. Part of that process has involved the destruction of many hard drives... resulting in a magnet collection.

 

[AdmFubar]

Why do people sell hard drives on EBAY with all the data still present?
Is it just the normal thing to do?
Do they even care?
Do they even realise?

I've had computers from the government that weren't wiped.

 

[peterblaise]

A few notes and observations:

I have experienced that many sellers on eBay have no technical skill, and are just selling items from boxes of parts that were collected by or dissembled by other people, the seller never actually plugging anything in themselves, with no way to test.

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Historically, old computers in the West were junked, shipped en masse to be dumped on beaches or fields in India and elsewhere for folks to scavenge through and make a living reselling anything found to be of value. Used hard drives sold for $5US until folks realized there was harvestable personal and financial information on them, then the price of old used comparatively tiny hard drives went to $300US - a year's worth of income for the poor folks scavenging in the junk fields.

Let me Google the above paragraph for us ... Google says:

In the past, a large amount of electronic waste (e-waste), including old computers, was shipped from Western countries to developing countries like India, China, and Pakistan. This practice led to significant environmental and health problems in these nations due to the often unsafe and informal e-waste recycling methods used, such as open burning and acid baths, which release toxic substances into the environment and harm those involved in the work, including children. The existence of this informal sector was partly due to the lack of formal recycling infrastructure in many developing countries, combined with the need for income opportunities for individuals with limited options.​

Regarding hard drives specifically, the discovery that personal and financial data could be recovered from used hard drives did indeed significantly impact their value in the resale and data recovery market. Initially, used hard drives were sold for low prices, potentially around $5 in the informal markets. However, once the potential for recovering valuable data was realized, the resale value for these drives, or the services to recover data from them, increased substantially, possibly reaching hundreds of dollars, which could represent a significant amount of money for individuals in the informal recycling sector. ​

This highlights the complex ethical and practical considerations surrounding e-waste disposal and the need for proper data sanitization before disposing of electronic devices to protect sensitive information.​

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I also have come by used hard drives with intact or recoverable government info - apparently wiping, "... like, with a cloth? ...", doesn't work.
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One legal firm asked me to preemptively 'dispose' of data drives before legal discovery could be demanded by any court proceedings, and the only way to prove the data was gone and not discoverable was to video record us mechanically destroying the drives and signing testimony as to what record dates were on the drives. 'Mere' erasing and resale did not satisfy the lawyers, the drives had to be mechanically destroyed via hammers, drills, and pliers, though nowadays there are hard drive shredders.
Other than that, I've never destroyed a working drive, hence I have hundreds of working antiques, great for development testing of each next generation of SpinRite!
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A system analyst told me that Pepsi originally never let a hard drive leave the property, even under warranty failure and replacement, instead they tossed them in a vault, a way to try to insure that no Pepsi formulas ever left the property. I imagine they have shredders nowadays, especially for SSDs.
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Destruction eliminates history and the value of a working drive.
I'm happy to wipe folk's data and recycle working drives.
I wish there was an efficient way to recycle HDD and SSD materials <-- Google that:

Efficiently and responsibly recycling HDDs and SSDs​

Disposing of old hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) requires prioritizing both data security and environmental responsibility. Simply deleting files or formatting the drives is not sufficient to prevent data recovery, according to GreenCitizen. ​

Here are the most efficient ways to recycle HDDs and SSDs while ensuring data security and environmental responsibility:​

1. Data destruction (before recycling)​

• For HDDs:
  
  • Degaussing: Uses a powerful magnetic field to scramble the data on the drive, rendering it useless and unreadable.
  • Crushing/shredding: Physically destroys the hard drive and its platters, making data recovery virtually impossible.
• For SSDs:
  
  • Specialized shredding: Since SSDs use flash memory chips rather than magnetic platters, degaussing doesn't work. Instead, SSDs must be shredded into fine particles (less than ½ inch in size) to ensure complete data destruction.
  • Professional services: Using a certified data destruction service ensures the drive is destroyed according to industry standards, such as NIST 800-88, and provides a certificate of destruction for proof.
  • Data sanitization (for reuse): If the drive is intended for reuse or donation, software-based data wiping tools like DBAN can be used to overwrite existing data with random information, making recovery much harder. However, this method may not be foolproof, especially for sensitive data.

2. Recycling the materials​

• E-waste recycling centers: These centers are equipped to handle electronic waste, ensuring that the valuable metals and other components in HDDs and SSDs are properly recycled and hazardous materials are safely disposed of.
• Manufacturer take-back programs: Many electronics manufacturers offer programs to collect and recycle their products at the end of their lifespan. For example, Western Digital's Easy Recycle program accepts HDDs and SSDs from any manufacturer, according to the WD Blog.

3. Repurposing old drives (if data destruction is not critical)​

• External storage: Old HDDs or SSDs can be repurposed as external backup drives using enclosures that connect via USB.
• Network Attached Storage (NAS): Old drives can be incorporated into a NAS for network-accessible storage.
• Secondary drive: If there are available slots, old drives can be used as a secondary drive in a computer, for example, to store media files or less-used applications.

Key takeaways​

• Data security is paramount: Always assume data is recoverable unless the drive has undergone professional data destruction methods like shredding or degaussing.
• Use certified professionals: For secure and compliant data destruction and recycling, engage the services of certified e-waste recycling companies like 4THBIN or ViaTeK Solutions.
• Consider repurposing: If data destruction isn't a primary concern, consider reusing old drives as external storage or for other purposes to extend their lifespan.
• Proper disposal prevents environmental harm: Recycling through authorized channels ensures hazardous materials are handled correctly and valuable resources are recovered.

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OK, that's enough archive information for now to 'salt the mine' here at the GRC Forums to draw Google searchers to find authoritative information here, now.

I wonder what search results brought 10 years ago, or will reveal 10 years from now - are we advancing?

Thanks.

 

[hyperbole]

A system analyst told me that Pepsi originally never let a hard drive leave the property, even under warranty failure and replacement, instead they tossed them in a vault

A friend, who worked in systems support at Coca-Cola told me the same thing. One of their early PCs was discarded, and a few months later they got a call from a man in Kentucky who had found company confidential information on the hard drive. They sent a team of five lawyers to recover the machine (I believe the man was given considerable compensation for it). No machines or hard drives were released from the company in tact after that.

 

[peterblaise]

Coke and Pepsi, ever tracking each other's schemes! Thanks for that.