A disk drive that has been correctly prepped for disposal
I garbage pick. I specialize in retrieving discarded electronics because I have electronics skills that most people don’t and, because few people understand the guts of their devices, the repairs are often simple. If a box can't be made to work or isn't worth the effort, I salvage the parts and subassemblies inside it. The best time to scavenge is during Garbage Week: that one week a year when the residents of Elmhurst have carte blanche to toss anything.
In one night of Garbage Week scavenging, I retrieved four PC klones and three Macincraps, all of various vintages. The disks in these machines, considered obsolete because they can barely hold half of a movie, have plenty of space for actual work product and applications.
I am amazed at how, given all the attention that identity theft has been getting, folks neglect to take any measures to remove their lives from their drives. I have found personal letters, personal finances with account info, patient lists with insurance billing info, porno hidden in oddball directories so the wife won’t see it, business correspondence, homework, manuscripts, tax returns.
You shred your paper Visa statements and charge tickets before they go into the garbage to secure the info on them, right? You need to do the same with magnetic media. Deleting files keeps the casual voyeurs out. There is only one way to keep the pros from spying, including the kops and the feds: physical destruction. Don’t casually toss an old or bad floppy into the waste bin; rip out the disk, chop it up, and throw mylar confetti away. Optical media are secured by gouging the top surface (the side with the label). Don’t leave the hard drive in the frame of that Pentium/233; take it out and smash it with a sledge hammer. Drive your Ford Exploiter/Dodge Intimidator/AMGeneral Dominator over it. But don’t put it out on the curb intact.