Invisible doesn’t mean non-existant
Is because you don’t see a thing that this thing doesn’t exist?
This question can be one of faith or observation. We know that some things exist without being able to see them but with experimentation we can demonstrate that the thing really exists.
Now, is this because you deleted a file on your personal computer that the file is deleted? Depending of your settings, he will be in the garbage bin. So, if you empty the bin, will the file always exist? Obviously not. The file will always be there; only his reference in the file system will be deleted. Okay, if you rewrite on the file’s old sector and/or perform a low format on the hard drive; will the file be finally deleted and not recoverable? Unfortunately not. It will not be easy to recover the file but it will always be there; entirely or partially. Am I crazy? No. It will get time and resources but it’s possible. How? It’s the product of a phenomenon called residual magnetism. The subject gets in the news by ComputerWorld.com some weeks ago.
If my memory is right, I read in Body of Secrets by James Bamford that the NSA is able to recover data on hard drives until between 5 to 7 low level formats. Is this freaky? Not if you don’t have state secret to hide. Remember, they need resources to recover these data. This is not easily done but it’s possible.
Some years ago you would have had been able to get unformatted hard drive in a governmental overstock outlets. Yes, and? You are asking. Think about it, which type of information your government is manipulating? Yes, mostly personal information. I remember that around 5 years ago the government of Quebec had been in trouble because citizen records have been found on old computers’ unformatted hard drives in such a store. This is a real problem. Is the income of a couple of dollars worth the embarrassment? I don’t think so. Are they always doing it? I don’t know; I haven’t been in such a store since then.
The best thing to do is destroying the hard drive, not selling it. You’ll get rid of all related possible problems. Check the price of a gig of storage space. Is the possible resulting problems worth the incomes? Personally I don’t think so.
Max
January 9, 2005 — 10:47 am
People really don’t mind about data privacy, in some cases with potentially bad consequences, no doubt. Even if it’s a bit off topic, but not so much, let me tell you a little story occoured to me and to a very famous blogger, few days ago. It’s a story I could never write on my weblog or elsewhere in italian. One of the most popular italian blogger (a real blogstar), is still anonymous: he writes under a nickname and, believe me, just a very little number of VIP bloggers know his surname. He doesn’t like to be photographed, etc. He published on his blog a file, made with MS Word. I downloaded it, and because I’m VERY malicious, I opened it with NotePad and his name and surname were there, as bright as the sun, and any of his hundred of daily readers – I immediately thought – could do the same. He usually blogs at work, so he could be easily blackmailed by a shady one. I wrote to him, who substituted the Word file with a PDF, commenting: “It’s so hard anonymous blogger’s life!”. I agreed with him. Bye Max
Fred
January 9, 2005 — 10:48 am
Hello Max! What an interesting story you get there! As you say, you have a malicious mind! But personally, I’ll say that you have a very practical one! This blogstar can thank god that you had the idea and share the treat with him. Some weeks ago, a subject on the blogshpere had stirred up interest: The danger of blogging. The problem is that your writings can be, theoretically, immortal on the web. The advise was to be aware of what you are writing that can cause you troubles in the future (to get a job, during in interview, etc). There is one of these threads wrote by an Australian (really interesting) writer: http://copywriter.typepad.com/copywriter/2005/01/writers_whining.html (yesterday post) http://copywriter.typepad.com/copywriter/2004/12/dangerous_blogg.html (original post) It’s sure that this can be a treat. But personally I think that if you write the truth; that you write things that you believe in, this can’t really be a treat. Why? Because your writings will be in harmony with what you have been, somewhere in your life. It’s a part of you. If someone doesn’t like it, then, he just have to go see elsewhere if you are there. To get back to our privacy concern; it’s sure that most people don’t care about, or care about it but don’t understand what its mean. But I have faith in education and I think that more and more peoples are aware of their privacy and what in mean in the new digital world. Another thank for this comment Max, it’s always a pleasure to share thoughts with you! If you have other such stories to share with me (and probably other) then don’t hesitate and post them there! Take care, Salutations, Fred
Max
January 9, 2005 — 10:49 am
Hi Fred, thank you for the links, i didn’t know that blog.
You say that “if you write the truth; that you write things that you believe in, this can’t really be a treat […]” but honestly I think this is true for people like you and maybe like me, who like to watch deep inside the Internet.
We do know that every time we click on the “submit” button, our thoughts cease to be ours to become everybody’s, and there are no chances to come back; we know that our IP can be read, so we carefully comment on blogs and other websites, even anonimously; we pay attention to the conditions agreements of softwares and web publishing public platforms, etc. For example, I’m conscious that Google owns a large part of my on line life: I sometimes make searches with it, I blog with it and I send and receive mail from friends with it, but I take care to use alternative ways when I manage important or delicate data: in those cases I prefer to use encryption software or – best – the phone. The only “dangerous” thing for a job interview I wrote on a weblog is that I like waking up late, but just on saturday! 😉
Most of people, unfortunately, consider the PC as a household appliance, and I’m not so sure that they can separate harmless opinions from dangerous, and they would really be surprised if someone would show in front of them their posts or their messages in a forum, so the treat is real for them, I suppose.
However, I agree with your faith in education, absolutely.
Bye
Max
Fred
January 9, 2005 — 10:52 am
Hello Max, Okay, I thought of a thing but I didn’t write it down, it’s my fault; I’ll do it right now. What I tried to express was the danger of your thoughts and ideas on some subjects; your opinions toward a situation or an event. These things that you’ll write on the web are yours. I understand that they are blurred because people will not try to find out who really wrote them. But they are the results of your brain’s computation. So, what I wanted to say was that if, for example, a future employer find what you had wrote, sometime in your life and refuse you a job, or worse, fire you, it’s not really a treat. Why? Because he just doesn’t understand what you were saying or just don’t share the same thoughts and is upset by them. If such a thing append, it’s probably a good thing and will save you unpleasant times in this enterprise. But be aware, I’m not talking of insulting someone or something for fun but genuine and truth (to yourself) ones. “Most of people, unfortunately, consider the PC as a household appliance, and I’m not so sure that they can separate harmless opinions from dangerous, and they would really be surprised if someone would show in front of them their posts or their messages in a forum, so the treat is real for them, I suppose.” Yeah, it leaves traces; someone can break into it and have access to all of your writings and other documents. But your advice to encrypt them if you don’t need that others never see them is right to the point. It’s why tools, like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), exists. They are well designer, easy-to-use, free encryption tools usable by any computer users. Yeah, Angela Booth is a good blogger. She is a source of inspiration for me and helps me to continue in my writing hobby. (I’m like a baby that tries to walk for the first time; I need advices from already walking persons) Bye Fred
Max
January 10, 2005 — 10:53 am
Hi Fred, I like very much this exchange of opinions, I hope you too!
What you meant in the first comment of this post was clear, you expressed perfectly your opinion.
Personally I agree with it, it’s better loose a job (or other) in a place where your personal opinions are controlled, than accept that somebody can judge you for your thoughts, present or past.
In my professional life, I made some choices that seemed to me right, even if not the best for my average, just to preserve my identity. And I don’t deny them.
The only worry I have is that anybody who write something on the web can be conscious of this risk, that’s why websites like yours and Angela’s blog are good and useful.
If you are informed about possible treats, then you decide what to do with your own life, and that’s a great thing!
Take care,
Max
Fred
January 10, 2005 — 10:53 am
Hello Max! It’s sure that I like this conversation too! It’s one of the main feature of a blog and it’s one of the reason why I started this one. Yeah, I share the same thoughts. The problem is that most of people don’t know, understand or even care of the risks. Thank for these brainstorming conversations 🙂 Saluations, Fred