Sensitive Client Information – What to do with a Broken Laptop?
Here is a great post on what to do if you have personal information on a computer that is no longer working. Many people would probably just chuck the computer not thinking of the potential consequences. I would take out the hard drive and transfer the info to the cloud.
Sensitive Client Information – What to do with a Broken Laptop?
I was having lunch the other day with a Broker friend of mine and the topic of broker files came up in our conversation. I was under the impression that we (agents) are to keep paper files for a period of two years after close of escrow. She corrected me and said the Broker is responsible for keeping files and because of privacy laws any documents agents have either need to be turned in to the broker, or shredded.
From what I understand it’s ok for me to keep files electronically, as long as they are not stored on a public-shared computer. Of course, they are not: all of my files are stored on a computer only I use.
When I first got in to this business (it will be four years in July), I was told I absolutely had to have a laptop. I understand why from the broker’s point of view, but from an agent’s point of view, it is not a necessity. In fact, from my experience, it may actually be detrimental to starting a real estate business using a laptop. I may take this up someday in another post.
Not knowing at the time, I followed the edict and purchased a HP laptop. It was the only computer I owned and lasted only three years. It finally crashed and died about a month ago. Because I knew this laptop was on its last breath, I backed-up all my files on to another pc.
You can see there are keys missing from the keyboard (must have been because of all my blogging and commenting on ActiveRain!)
Computers that are broken or no longer needed cannot be thrown in to the trash. They are considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly at a hazardous waste site. Before my laptop died I did not erase or restore factory settings, which is what I should have done. Now I am left with a hard drive that has all my closed files, as well as all my clients’ information. What to do?I took apart my laptop.
There are the two RAM cards, might be worth a few bucks. Then there is the Intel Duo Core processor, worth nothing because it’s obsolete, especially now that you can purchase Quad Core processors at unbelievable prices.
Then there is the hard drive which is where all the information is stored. The hard drive could be plugged in to another computer to access the information stored on it. This is something I definitely would not want to get in the wrong hands.
I’ve thought of putting the hard drive through the washing machine because one cell phone and one ipod were damaged because someone forgot to empty their pockets. The cell phone had to be replaced, but the ipod continues to sit in a bowl of rice waiting for a resurrection.
For now I’ll keep the hard drive under lock and key, unless anyone has a suggestion how to safely delete the information stored on it.
Pamela Seley, REALTOR®
Short Sale Resource | CA DRE lic # 01824145
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