Asset Tags on Junked Computers Trace Data

This story discusses how computers discarded by Americans can end up a world away in Nigerian street markets.

Computer dealers interviewed in Lagos (Nigeria) said that every month, they receive 500 or so shipping containers loaded with thousands of old monitors, computers, televisions and other electronic gear. Some of it is working and has value, but most is quickly junked or stripped for parts. Then there are the hard drives that Americans have not bothered to wipe clean, potential treasure-troves of data that circulate in the Nigerian underworld.

Often third world countries will find ways to purchase comptuers which cost far too much new for most users there. It makes sense that perfectly functional used equipment which has been trashed would be sold to those who can't afford imported equipment. This is true especially where tariffs and taxes make already expensive new equipment cost far too much.

In Nigerian computer markets — ramshackle buildings resembling flea markets in rural America — dealers keep an eye out for nonerased hard drives, testing them on computers powered by portable generators. Those bulging with information can bring $50 or more, roughly the price of a new, inexpensive drive.

What is worse is the bad guys trolling these flea markets with an eye toward personal financial information to be used in identity theft or worse crimes. But when public agencies or larger corporations dispose of computers, the information could be potentially ruinous to employees or even to the agency itself.

You never know what you’re going to find there. A year ago, the Basel Action Network, a nonprofit group based in Seattle, recorded asset tags of discarded computers, printers and other equipment from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois Department of Public Aid, the Illinois Department of Employment and the Illinois State Police.

Needless to say - hard drives of public agencies should be either destroyed or wiped clean before disposal. Those asset tagged items from Illinois government agencies could hold information which will be more highly prized by criminals looking for salable data and illustrate how far information can travel.