Digital security

US House-passed legislation discourages cellphone recycling and refurbishment

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, D.C., has cautioned against the unintended consequences limiting the recycling and refurbishment of cellphones if the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (H.R. 1123), passed in late February in the U.S. House of Representatives, becomes law. While the bill enables customers to unlock cellphones without permission from carriers, it makes it illegal for recyclers and refurbishers to unlock cellphones in bulk, ISRI says.

“The recycling industry applauds the effort of H.R. 1123 to give consumers the freedom to unlock their cellphones but is concerned the side effects could be harmful to the economic and environmental benefits of recycling,” ISRI President Robin Wiener says. “By not allowing unlocking phones in bulk, recyclers and refurbishers are placed in a competitive disadvantage and may be forced to outsource the repair jobs to facilities outside of the United States where unlocking is legal.”

Last October, the ISRI board of directors approved a cellphone unlocking policy that called for allowing consumers, including recyclers and refurbishers, the right to lawfully unlock technological devices. By allowing bulk unlocking, recyclers and refurbishers are able to put valuable and working devices back into the domestic and global marketplace where there is a strong demand, ISRI says.

“Unfortunately, rather than allowing refurbishers and recyclers the same right as consumers to unlock phones that they own, this legislation confuses the market and creates an impediment for the proper repair and reuse of such phones,” Wiener says. “It is our hope that the Senate addresses this oversight when it takes up the legislation.”

NAID study reveals personal data on reused computer hard drives

A two-month study commissioned by the Phoenix-based National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) in Australia has found significant amounts of personal information left on computers destined for the reuse market, the association says. For businesses and organizations, this is a data breach problem, while for individuals, some of their most private information is at risk, NAID says.

The study showed that of the 52 hard drives randomly purchased, 15, or 30 percent, contained highly confidential personal information. While seven of the 15 devices previously had been owned by individuals, eight belonged to organizations, including law firms operating in Victoria and Queensland, a government medical facility and a community center, NAID says. All of these firms have a legal obligation to protect the public’s information.

“The study is rather simple,” NAID CEO Bob Johnson says. “We randomly purchased 52 recycled computer hard drives from a range of publicly available sources, such as eBay. We then asked a highly reputable forensic investigator, Insight Intelligence Pty Ltd., to determine whether confidential information was on those drives. The procedure used to find the information is intentionally very basic and did not require an unusually high degree of technical heroics.” He adds, “Had the data been properly erased, it could not have been found.”

Another troubling finding was that often, where personal information was found, there were telltale indications that someone had attempted to remove the information but failed to effectively do so, according to NAID.

Mario Bekes, Insight Intelligence managing director, says proper removal of data from computer hard drives requires more than pressing the delete button. “Even if they try to do it properly, private individuals and businesses take a big risk by attempting to erase hard drives themselves,” Bekes says. “It is not really a do-it-yourself project,” he adds.

Bekes also encourages consumers and businesses to be careful when selecting a recycling service.

NAID says it has offered to provide a detailed report of the results, as well as the hard drives themselves, to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to facilitate an official regulatory inquiry. Should the OAIC decline, NAID says it will ensure the hard drives are securely destroyed to protect those put at risk.