Dear Ray
1. I wonder what made your DP R remark so special in your eyes?
1.1 "to see to..." in non Shakespearean English is to ensure if I m not
mistaken...
1.2 What he meant is purely technical responsibility that any person in
charge of any sensitive Mainframe and Mini in my country (and I m sure in
the UK as well) knows for years : You do not handover "Head and Disk"
assembly (the heart of any mag storage system) to the maintenance people and
their vendor for "refurbishment" before laying into a Magnetic Bulk
Eraser... this was an expensive chamber which created a very very strong
Magnetic field around the discs (12 Inch Diameter) and erased properly the
data. It is easier if you had no break down "crash" - if you can write on
the disk there are routines which "wipe clean" for Windows, NT and UNIX
systems... (don't know Macs).
2. If the values of the disk for warranty purpose is minor (PC like assembly
... ) then why not play with it, take it apart and observe its structure and
hang the plates over your desk ... (If your room is locked).
3. I salute the DP R of UK for this approach - in Israel we take it for
granted ... we have DP regulations since 1986 and the "sensitive" types of
personnel databases are managed in accordance to these guidelines...
Hospitals, Social Security, Schools and Academies, Banks and Army personnel
systems... I wonder what lightning strikes you in UK in response to a very
basic guideline by the DP R ... or is the UK a place where only the most
righteous people in the world live - no hackers, no private-eyes, no
blackmails... Paradise of Privacy ???? (I failed to feel it in my 5 years
tenure in London ... some years ago ... )
Well take it easy ... you should have been doing what DP R says for ages...
turning a blind eye towards the Techies does not exempt any manager from the
responsibilities ... even pre EU Directive "troubles"...
Yours truly
Yosi Maraglit LL.B. CISA
The Public Council for Protection of Privacy
Ministry of Justice \ Gvmt of Israel
[log in to unmask]
Mobile 972-58-804368
Phone : 972-3-5464642 Fax: 972-3-5463152
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 11:27 PM
Subject: Erasing data off disks
> It seemed an unfortunate turn of phrase by the DP Registrar this evening
(on
> Channel 4 News) to say that it was up to organizations to *see* that that
> data was erased from the hard disks of their old computers before
disposal.
>
> It is not possible to see magnetic data, is it?
>
> The point seems to be worth making because so much of the discussion on
this
> list seems to be indicating the new DPA Act will be ineffective in so many
> ways.
>
> How can hard disks be made completely unreadable short of physical
> destruction? Does not repartitioning just destroy some areas of the
disk?
>
>
> So to be effective would not the law have to require the electronic
> equivalent of a paper shredder?
>
> Ray Thomas, Social Sciences, Open University
> Tel: 01908 679081 Fax 01908 550401
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> 35 Passmore, Milton Keynes MK6 3DY
>
>
>
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