There are many implications resulting from the data left on old Hard Drives .  These include, and are not limited to:

Identity theft: The level of information available left on disks that once belonged to the corporate sector and individuals could make it possible for identity theft or cloning. This information could include name, address, RSI number, email address, online banking details, credit card numbers, date of birth and other passwords.

ID theft does not only happen to individuals. Back in 2006, a corporate in Northern Ireland became a victim of Identity theft, when one of their laptops was stolen. The laptop contained salary details, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance and phone numbers of some 26,000 employees, all stolen!

Fraud: In many cases, the range and depth of information found belonging to the corporate sector would allow a fraudster to either manipulate the information to advantage or to generate false invoices, as many invoices can be found on disks. Other types of fraud could generate false documentation, such as quotes, references or letters of qualifications from the information revealed on the disks.

Blackmail: Some PCs contain inappropriate material, the users can be identified, and hence this information could be used to blackmail the user as they were downloading or browsing inappropriate material.

Industrial Espionage: The level of information gathered concerning the day- to-day running of various organisations, along with financial figures, customer details, organisation charts, a competitor could perform a very accurate analysis of the financial capability of your business.

Take end of life Data Management seriously contact Secure Data Recycling for more information.