We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Major Error - Computer in trash!

Hi

I recently moved house (2 weeks ago), and think I made a major error - I threw away an old PC with an intact harddrive. There may be old personal data on here that can be used for identity theft... Is there anything I can do? Does anyone know the process that the waste-processing companies use? Is my PC likely to be "grabbed" and scanned, or will in be under lots of tonnes of other landfill by now?

This is giving me sleepless nights!

Comments

  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    PC's should not go into landfill (under the WEE directive), they are not supposed to be put into the domestic refuse (if this is what you did). It will either have been separated out for proper recycling, or if not will have gone to landfill.
    Either way, there's nothing you can do about it now, so why worry? Next time, remove or wipe the hard drive before disposal.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 353.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455K Spending & Discounts
  • 246.5K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 602.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178K Life & Family
  • 260.5K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.