Hackers grab private data from devices

In New Jersey, the state government nearly auctioned off computers with Social Security numbers and confidential child abuse reports.

“It’s essential to protect private information that is protected by law,” said Bill Long, a board member at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a D.C.-based trade association. “It’s really a matter of balancing the measures taken with the risks of the particular data in question.”

After the data is wiped, U.S. Micro pays a fee to take the old devices and resells them for a profit. The resale market can make for good business. “The resellers make much more money than the original manufacturers as far as profit,” Mr. Kegley said. “The margins for selling a new product are really, really slim.”

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