Spring cleaning your digital devices

Individuals and businesses now likely possess several electronic and digital data devices, including, but not limited to, netbooks, computers, and smart phones. Just as we noted in a previous blog about identity theft, one should be concerned with how to dispose of these devices properly, especially as their life cycles seem to be shortening . Not only does proper disposal help protect the environment, but more importantly, it helps protect your personal and business information. 

We recommend that you always dispose of your electronic devices following the guidelines of your local waste management company and by following city ordinances. The best solution is to donate your devices to a local school, church, training center, or marginalized family who need the the device. Regardless of your disposal method, we'd like to provide you with some tips to mitigate identity theft. 

#1: Before surrendering your device, remove  the hard drive or SIM card.

The best way to protect all of your personal data is to never hand over any drive that may contain data. This, of course, is not always practical. You still need to dispose of the hard drive and for a donation, this renders the product unusable. For disposal, simply hammer or drill through the hard drive or SIM card so that it no longer functional. When transferring computers, however, physically destroying the hard drive renders the product useless. Therefore, we recommend doing the following before transferring the unit.

#2:  Scrub the hard drive (frequently) with drive cleaner software (e.g., CCleaner )

To maintain a clean hard drive on computers you actively use on a daily basis, you need to be sure deleted information is no longer available. Before transferring the hardware, run a program like cyberCide that writes over data multiple times. To protect yourself on a daily basis, it is recommended that when deleting files you use a drive cleaner software (e.g, CCleaner) or the ‘secure empty trash’ feature with a Macintosh operating system. You can find directions for permanently removing personal information from a cell phone before you donate, exchange, sell or recycle at Recellular. Remember to run these programs to clean your data drives before donation. For added security when disposing, you can use these suggest programs before following method number 1 above.

Please note that solid sate memory drives, such as "flash drives," external hard drives, and phone media in iPhones, are much more difficult to erase. It is recommended, therefore, that in almost all circumstances the device be transferred to a well-trusted person. However, the best way to dispose of these items is to physically destroy the circuit board or trade the device with a trade-in program (e.g., Target Stores' program).

We are always willing to work with you to craft a comprehensive security risk program for your family or business. If you would like to speak with one of our investigators, please call us today for a free, initial telephone consultation. 

Got bullying problems? Consider a private investigator.

A simple Google search using the key term "bullying" suggests that it is a serious social issue. While school-yard bullying has always been a concern of parents and gurdians, recent news about cyber-bullying and its effect on youth and adults' seemingly lax oversight and poor understanding of both physical and cyberbullying, have prompted a national conversation. West Virgina, for example, just passed a stronger anti-bullying bill.

Suspicions of bullying can be hard to prove. False claims made against a child can be hard to disprove. Cyberbullying is hard to detect. School misconduct or poor due diligence can be unnerving.

While any serious concern about bullying should be reported to the proper authorities, there are reasons that parents and guardians, schools, and other public stakeholders ought to consider, in certain circumstances, hiring a private investigator to prove or disprove (cyber)bullying. As an independent professional, a private investigator can collect additional facts, interview witnesses, conduct surveillance, review case files and, when necessary, work with authorities. This work will allow you to obtain an unbiased impression of a case in order to protect a child.

As part of their "domestic services," many private investigators already conduct investigations into parental abuse, kidnapping, and other crimes against children. Thus, they are well prepared to handle bullying cases. So speak with one to see if he or she can assist you with bullying too.

As our regular readers know, we have designed this blog to provide helpful information to our clients and to passersby. Thus, we'd like to mention that when it comes to online social networking and cyber-bullying, parents and guardians should consider implementing safeguards with or without a professional investigator's help. Many private investigators can, of course, conduct a comprehensive online security risk-assessment for your family. For those who need a basic solution, though, help seems to be on its way. There is a new company, SocialShield, that provides a solution for online monitoring, and it recently received an injection of capital to improve its product. Here is a description of the service as posted in a recent issue of Entrepreneur:

SocialShield doesn't prohibit users from engaging in any behavior online and doesn't restrict access to websites. Rather, it acts as watchdog, monitoring children's contacts online, comparing friends and others interacting with the child to names and photos on sexual predator databases. Parents are alerted if there is a match or if there is a contact unrelated to other connections in the child's network, which can be a sign of stalking. The application also analyzes keywords in comments and posts and notifies parents if there are references to drugs, violence and suicide and words commonly used in cyberbullying.

If  your child attends school in the Austin area, and should your child be a victim or suspected instigator of bullying, please call us to discuss your concerns and the specific nature of your case.