My personal information may not be all that interesting but I still could not imagine selling a computer, cell phone, pager, hard-drive, blackberry without making sure that the data was completely erased.
Seems some ex-employee from Morgan Stanley sold a BlackBerry on eBay for $15.50 and the new owner was rewarded with a treasure trove of information. How stupid could this idiot have been.
So fair warning you better make sure that before you sell something that has your and others personal data on it that your erase with commercial tools to make sure the data is erased. Personally I think a hammer works real well and refuse to sell anything that has had any personal data on it. [Wired]
I have heard of cases Where Philip Morris have sold PC’s at corporate auctions still loaded with sensitive information…