Underdogs (CBC)

[Keebler Elf]

I've seen a couple of these episodes and usually I side with the customers but I just watched one with a woman who absolutely fucking annoyed me. Of course, she's the bored housewife who has nothing better to do than harass Staples for a year.

Granted, I missed the first 10 minutes so if I've missed out on any facts, let me know.

Apparently this woman returned her computer to Staples and when it was resold, the person who bought it found all sorts of personal pictures and information on the hard drive. The woman was complaining that Staples should have scoured the computer to remove all traces of her information.

Okay, sounds sorta reasonable right? Well how about taking some personal fucking responsibility and not returning your computer with all your personal files still on it!!! This wasn't some 80-year-old who didn't know better, it was a relatively young woman who seemed pretty computer savvy to me (she was using Google to research all sorts of info to use against Staples). If you dispose of your computer without taking steps to remove the data on it (and we're talking simply deleting the files; not some kind of involved overwriting process), you get what you deserve IMHO.

 

[DshRipRock]

The only way to guarentee that HD Data is gone is to destroy the disk. Open up drive casing and remove the disks, put in vise, belt sand the surface to remove all data.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I know both of those things. That's not what I'm talking about. From watching the episode, I didn't get the impression that the data was "recovered," but instead that it was simply left on the computer without being deleted by the consumer when they returned the computer.

I'm talking about deleting your frikken files. If you can't even do that, then you get what you deserve.

There will always be ways of recovering "lost" data and, really, there's nothing that Staples can reasonably be expected to do to prevent data from ever being recovered off a used hard drive (short of not selling it or, worse for the consumer, not taking it back in the first place).

This isn't about data recovery, it's about taking some personal responsibility and not expecting the big 'ol corporation to do what you should have done in the first place.

Oh yeah, and it's also about getting a life/job so you don't come up with silly crusades against company's like Staples just b/c your life is an empty void.

 

[1HandInMyPocket]

Well how about taking some personal fucking responsibility and not returning your computer with all your personal files still on it!!!

I agree, based on your post (haven't seen the ep myself). It is sad that we live in an age that our first thought now is to blame someone else and not take any responsibility. I'm guilty of this as well. There are at times where my first thought is to get mad at someone else, but then I take a second to think and see how it is my fault as well.