Bill Mah reports:
Alberta’s privacy commissioner has ordered Staples Canada to better protect personal information on computers brought in for repair.
In a finding released Wednesday, the office supplies retailer was told to ask customers who bring in computers for repair whether the unit contains a hard drive.
Staples must also ask customers if they authorize any personal information on it to be destroyed or preserved in the event the company buys back the computer.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner investigated after a woman complained in 2008 that a Calgary Staples store had returned her laptop missing its hard drive after she had taken it in for repair.
Staff had told her it was not cost-effective to repair the laptop and it would be “bought back.”
Read more in the Edmonton Journal.
H/T, @PrivacySecurity