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SALT LAKE CITY -- You may trust your accountant or your doctor to keep your personal information private, but some security experts say there's another problem out there they may not have thought of -- that old photocopy machine they traded in for a new one.
It turns out some of the older machines that have hard drives in them can be easily accessed and possibly mined for information that has been stored.
"I think people need to start thinking a little bit more out of the box," said Assistant Utah Attorney General Richard Hamp. "Our electronic devices now have come so far and are capable of retaining so much information."
Hamp's office investigates issues dealing with medical records and privacy. "Any time that a business is retaining information on people, either intentionally or in this case unintentionally, it puts people at risk," he said.
Though there are privacy laws related to medical records, Hamp thinks the real challenge to companies will be in civil courts. "We've all got to be thinking twice about how we're retaining that data, what data we're retaining and how we're disposing of the machines that retain the data," he said.
Many newer copiers have technology to help better protect the information.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
