Bureau of Consumer Protection Encourages Higher Levels of Data Security

Encouraged by the Bureau of Consumer Protection, businesses have a responsibility to protect their data each time they deal with a photocopier. First, we recommend looking at how you acquire a copier. Before you lease or buy a used or refurbished copier, you should have it screened by the IT staff of a company. It should be secured before entering a business. If you have decided to buy or lease a copier, ask in detail about the copier security that your vendor will provide. For example, what kind of security does the hard drive come with? There are two main types of hard drive security:

• Encryption
• Overwriting

Whenever you are in the office, you should practice good copier security. It should be used at all times with discretion. We recommend doing a secure hard drive overwrite on a monthly basis. Finally, security when reselling or returning a copier should also be practiced. While some vendors do charge extra for overwriting your hard drive, you can also remove it and return it so that the business can destroy it.