Discussion:Retiring an Accountant's Computer
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| Therefore, I leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide for yourself. What was the cause of this EMAIL FROM THE GRAVE? I will say no more.}} | Therefore, I leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide for yourself. What was the cause of this EMAIL FROM THE GRAVE? I will say no more.}} | ||
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| + | {{ForumReplyPost|UserID=TexCPA|Date=30 October 2009|Text=Tara, | ||
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| + | since I'm only a few blocks away, I can easily take this problem off your hands, my two friends would like to 'talk' to this 'hard drive', you can call them Mr. smith and mr. wesson. | ||
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| + | [[User:TexCPA|TexCPA]] 13:34, 30 October 2009 (CDT) | ||
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| + | }} | ||
Revision as of 18:34, 30 October 2009
Discussion Forum Index --> Business Growth Community --> Retiring an Accountant's Computer
| 29 October 2009 | |
| I hope someone can provide some insight on this situation.
An accountant whose office was nearby came to us a few months ago to help him take care of some tax returns that he was unable to do; his health was failing and he was in and out of the hospital frequently. Earlier this month, he passed away. His family brought us all of his files to sort through and his computer as well, in case it had any other needed information. I went through the computer today and now have no other use for it. The accountant's son will come by to pick up the computer when we let him know we're done with it, but now my dilemma is this: do I leave all the tax data on the computer? By which I mean social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, bank account numbers, etc. I doubt the son will keep the computer. He may turn around and sell it the same day we give it back to him. Can anyone offer advice? Thanks! | |
| 29 October 2009 | |
| With the family's permission, I would scrub the hard drive with one of the readily available software programs. | |
| 30 October 2009 | |
| I have read that even an attempt to erase files may not be good enough. Any time I retire a PC, I have the hard drive destroyed. Used PC's don't have much value and there is way too much identify theft out there. I believe this also falls under our responsibility to protect the personal information of our clients. | |
| 30 October 2009 | |
| I once bought a video camcorder with a built in hard drive and was reading the user manual. In the section about deleting data, it gave instructions on how to erase the files, but then went on to say that if you want to make sure the data cannot be accessed by anyone in the future to destroy the camera with a hammer or another hard object. I guess the same would go for computer hard drives. | |
| 30 October 2009 | |
| The only true way to destroy a hard drive is the way Vanja describes. You can take a high powered magnet to it, but a very sophisticated techie can get information of the drive still.
After you get the data off the drive, unscrew the casing, take the plates out and break them. It's probably really old technology anyway, especially if it's over a year old. Tom | |
| 30 October 2009 | |
| You answered your own question. You say that the son is going to come by and pick the computer up. This indicates to me that the son plans to either have it cremated, or to give it a decent burial.
The old man was probably so connected to the computer in his family's eyes that they would want to see it disposed of properly. I think if it's done at night, they could get away with a computer cremation, even though it will likely violate EPA rules on mercury emmissions. No doubt it will be increasingly commonplace in the future for some people, finding themselves lonely and abandoned at the end of a long life of toil and misery, to choose either be buried with their machine, or to make provisions for their computer in their Will.
If you don't mind, it will take this opportunity to relate a true story that happened to me about this time last year.
.......................(A True Story From Real Life)....................... ...............................(Or Death)..................................
Strangely enough, at about 11:00p.m. on All Hallows Eve, I noticed an Email come through on my computer.... IT WAS THE MAN. He related to me a simple but harrowing message of just two words...."I AM" I interpreted this to be a cry of self-realization from the very grave. Proceeding along with my story. I went the next day in great excitement to my family doctor, who being of a scientific bent of mind, gave me his own opinion about the strange events I had experienced the night before. He theorized that the man had eaten some popcorn on the day he died, and that one kernal had not fully popped. After a few days in the cold grave, it appears that the weather had taken a warmer turn and had warmed the popcorn just sufficiently enough to go "POP" in the man's stomach. This tiny explosion was enough to move the man's fingers just enough to send me the Email message I remarked upon above. Since I am of a more romantic turn of mind than my doctor, who after all is a great man of science (having killed more than a score of people with his medical knowledge through the years) it will always be my firm belief and opinion that this accountant, wishing to give me some hope of a blissful afterlife, was thoughful enough to send me his final Email of self reaffirmation from his bed of eternal rest. Therefore, I leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide for yourself. What was the cause of this EMAIL FROM THE GRAVE? I will say no more. | |
| 30 October 2009 | |
| Tara,
since I'm only a few blocks away, I can easily take this problem off your hands, my two friends would like to 'talk' to this 'hard drive', you can call them Mr. smith and mr. wesson. TexCPA 13:34, 30 October 2009 (CDT) | |
