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Ethical question

DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Went to one of those annual clean out the basement city "auctions" where they get rid of crap, stolen stuff that was recovered and not claimed (almost all bicycles), etc.

I ended up just wasting time there, chatting with the officer who was in charge of watching over the entire thing. Toward the end, I did pick up a very solid, 2 inch thick solid oak table/bench that only needed a little refinishing to be beautiful again (it was already quite functional as a work bench). As firewood, it would have cost more. My wife loves it in the laundry area of our house - it's perfect.

Anyway, for shits and giggles, my son picked up an old computer that was used by the city. - 50cents. He wanted to see if there was anything useful to him inside it. And, sure there was - a hard drive.

Of course, they formatted the hard drive. But, just to play with it and test his "haxor" skills, he restored it.

Question: should he now reformat the hard drive, since he's proven to himself that he was capable of restoring it? Or, should he go through the files and see if there are any inappropriate goodies inside worth tossing to the local newspaper; else confidential stuff that the city should be willing to pay him to destroy, since they did a poor job in the first place. (at the very least, point out the ineptness on the city's part at protecting confidential information.)

Part of me is curious, part of me doesn't want to stir up a hornet's nest if there is anything to be found on it. Any bizarre tech laws against doing what he did?
 
The hard-drive may be his but the data is not. I wouldn't be able to resist perusing through it, but you should definitively delete it and never speak of it to anyone in your city.
 
Unless he uncovers a plot involving the mayor killing homeless people for food, I would simply check out whats on the HD for laughs and giggles. Most likely only outrageous thing you'll find is some porn.
 
I'd discreetly inform the city that their data destruction procedures leave something to be desired. If they don't react with appropriate horror about what you tell them, I'd go to the newspaper.
 
I'd have to look. If you do find sensitive information, you may want to tell them so you don't end up getting burned by a not so nice hacker.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Went to one of those annual clean out the basement city "auctions" where they get rid of crap, stolen stuff that was recovered and not claimed (almost all bicycles), etc.

I ended up just wasting time there, chatting with the officer who was in charge of watching over the entire thing. Toward the end, I did pick up a very solid, 2 inch thick solid oak table/bench that only needed a little refinishing to be beautiful again (it was already quite functional as a work bench). As firewood, it would have cost more. My wife loves it in the laundry area of our house - it's perfect.

Anyway, for shits and giggles, my son picked up an old computer that was used by the city. - 50cents. He wanted to see if there was anything useful to him inside it. And, sure there was - a hard drive.

Of course, they formatted the hard drive. But, just to play with it and test his "haxor" skills, he restored it.

Question: should he now reformat the hard drive, since he's proven to himself that he was capable of restoring it? Or, should he go through the files and see if there are any inappropriate goodies inside worth tossing to the local newspaper; else confidential stuff that the city should be willing to pay him to destroy, since they did a poor job in the first place. (at the very least, point out the ineptness on the city's part at protecting confidential information.)

Part of me is curious, part of me doesn't want to stir up a hornet's nest if there is anything to be found on it. Any bizarre tech laws against doing what he did?
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If he CAN restore it, he should do so and then hand it over to the local newspaper as is with the story.

Now if he "happened" to read something and called the any newspaper their source wold still be protected.

I wouldn't use anything but paper in that case though and make sure that my name was no where near it.

At the very least, it should be let known that they did a piss poor job that might cause misery for people.
 
Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
Unless he uncovers a plot involving the mayor killing homeless people for food, I would simply check out whats on the HD for laughs and giggles. Most likely only outrageous thing you'll find is some porn.
Click to expand...

 
Personally, I would call the city and ask them WTF is up with their data destruction procedures. What if some of my data is on there? I would be pissed off.
 
Originally posted by: Evadman
Personally, I would call the city and ask them WTF is up with their data destruction procedures. What if some of my data is on there? I would be pissed off.
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I agree. If this ever does reach the newspaper somehow, it would look extremely bad for the city. BTW, how DID he restore the data?
 
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
Wait, if it is formatted, how can you "restore" it?
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They should have done a "govt." wipe, they did not apparently lol. Sounds like it was only formatted once, which can be restored.
 
Originally posted by: Evadman
Personally, I would call the city and ask them WTF is up with their data destruction procedures. What if some of my data is on there? I would be pissed off.
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I wouldn't tell them that i had used a program to restore confidential information and you shouldn't either.

I wouldn't change anything, but if you were to report it to the newspaper, THEN the shit would hit the fan and since the newspaper can protect informants you wouldn't even have to get involved.

There are some freedoms left but you pretty much have to stay off the net, off the cell and keep it on paper to protect that freedom because retroactive immunity for any kind of surveillance is given by both parties in the US, even if it is general and involves people who are not even suspected of any crime what so ever.
 
I would DBAN it or another low level format and be done with it. Turning anything over to the city or the news paper will be nothing but trouble in the future. Depending on the network infrastructure at the city office, it may just be an OS install with some user's AD accounts and nothing more. I wouldn't even look to check that part out.
 
I'd let the local government agency know that they need to re-examine their data destruction techniques. That is, if the PC truly belonged to them in the long-run. I know of some local governments that get old PC's donated to them and they go directly into the auction to be re-sold, because they're not worth the agency's IT department's time.

/me works for a local gov't
 
Originally posted by: JohnOfSheffield
If he CAN restore it, he should do so and then hand it over to the local newspaper as is with the story.

Now if he "happened" to read something and called the any newspaper their source wold still be protected.

I wouldn't use anything but paper in that case though and make sure that my name was no where near it.
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You must not go to many auctions 😛 There's a record of who purchased what, right down to the driver's license number. Now, I doubt they actually kept those records, but it was the only computer they sold, it's a small city, and I'm far from unknown (in a positive way.)

Heck, I spent the majority of the auction chatting with the policeman assigned to monitor it in case of any problems. ("hey, you can't sell that, it's mine!") It was kinda funny - at the end of the auction, someone finally bid 50 cents for something. I was 😕 "you'll allow 50 cent bids??!" So, since they had a bunch of stuff that hadn't sold the first time, I offered 50 cents for a gigantic aluminum hub/hubcap thing from a semi that was still there. "Just go ahead and take it." "No really, I've gotta pay for it otherwise it'll ruin it for me." Within 15 minutes, I had sold it at the scrap yard that I was going to be driving by anyways and ended up with a pretty decent profit.

That reminds me... I've gotta check in on a particular online auction for kitchen equipment - hoods, tables, etc - all stainless steel - the last I checked, the items were going for a small fraction of their scrap metal value. Bidding at the right time & with the right amounts could net me a significant chunk of change in profit for a couple hours of driving back and forth from that kitchen to a scrapyard. I'm estimating about at least 3000 pounds worth of scrap metal, mostly stainless steel, plus all the motors attached to them will be worth a mini-fortune for their scrap value as well. Not many will bid because it's all 3-phase.
 
how can you not find out if anything is on it? curiosity is a strong force.

and... if there is even anything there, i'll bet it's nothing scandalous or shocking, but rather boring stuff.
 
Originally posted by: DrawninwarD
Originally posted by: Evadman
Personally, I would call the city and ask them WTF is up with their data destruction procedures. What if some of my data is on there? I would be pissed off.
Click to expand...

I agree. If this ever does reach the newspaper somehow, it would look extremely bad for the city. BTW, how DID he restore the data?
Click to expand...

They just did a quick reformat - one of those reformats that only takes a minute. My son found the software to do it only a week before as a result of accidentally reformatting the wrong hard drive. And fortunately for him, he succeeded in restoring that hard drive.

I believe govt agencies are supposed to do a low level reformat and rewrite everything with 0's. (or is it with 1's?)
 
I sure you know as well as I that strictly, ethically, first principles pertain. That means that he, and you, should honor the intent of the city fathers to sell you a blank drive, no matter how inept their attempt was.

That's the formal ethics of it.

Now. Let's get down to business.

This looks like a great growth opportunity for your son. Were I you, I would let him examine the drive for pertinant info, under your supervision.

If you both then concluded that there was documentary evidence of municipal malfeasance on that drive (which seems fairly unlikely), then, phew he and YOU both have a personal growth opportunity on your hands. :laugh:

If, however, you and your son uncover sensitive but not illegal data, I would handle that discovery with the utmost diplomacy and discretion. Old but enduring rule: Never burn the locals.

It could be a very cool, personally empowering experience for your son. If you're up for it, do some legwork and find out who was/is responsible for "IT security" (it may be no one!), and then let them and only them know personally. Your son can then instruct them on what to do!

That way, your son will have participated in a civic good. He will have experienced what it means to be a good citizen on a pretty high level. Heady stuff!

Otherwise, just let the whole thing be.

 
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