Have you ever considered donating some of your old and unwanted electronic devices to a thrift store? Well, one story may make you think twice before taking that step.
On Dec. 14, a TikTok user posted a video on the social media site about an Apple Time Capsule he bought for $15 at a Goodwill.
He was in for quite the surprise. When he plugged it into his laptop, he found that the previous owner, who is only identified as “Don,” “did not delete their information off of it before they donated it.”
WARNING: This video contains language that some viewers will find offensive.
@dankeunextgay this is kinds scary 😭 #fyp #mystery ♬ original sound – Willhelm🇩🇪
In a two-minute follow-up to the original video, the TikToker went through and revealed what he had found, and boy, was it a treasure trove!
First, he revealed that the Time Capsule, which had not been used since 2010, contained many of Don’s old photos going all the way back to the 1980s.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
The TikToker had access to this man’s financial information as well.
Have you ever donated old items?
Yes: 77% (23 Votes)
No: 23% (7 Votes)
“There’s tax information on here. … There’s audit history, credit card numbers, flight information. I have this man’s bank account number. I can see how much money he had in the bank at one point,” he said in the video.
“I even have his life insurance information, and this dude is worth millions of dollars.”
The TikToker also said he plans on deleting all these files, because “it serves me no purpose, and I feel uncomfortable keeping other people’s stuff.”
He gave this warning to his audience: “Do not donate your old technology to Goodwill.”
@dankeunextgay Replying to @agoodfamilytiktok824 ♬ original sound – Willhelm🇩🇪
While it may be a bit much to say that you should never donate technology to Goodwill, this video does serve as a reminder that you should do a complete wipe of any electronics before you donate or sell them, as they do often contain sensitive information.
Whether it’s a hard drive, an old phone, or an old laptop, we use these devices as storage for our entire lives.
Not to mention that we now live in the era of remote work, so a growing number of people are using their personal computers to work from home. If you do not wipe these devices before donating them, someone could potentially have access to sensitive corporate information as well as personal information.
Fortunately for Don and his family, the man who bought this Time Capsule behaved decently and had no intention of using this information for malicious purposes.
Not everyone is like this. Had someone else bought it, Don could have been in a massive bind.
As we store more and more of our information digitally, cybercrime and identity theft are becoming more and more commonplace. So let’s take heed from these videos and be extra careful when it comes to protecting our technological information.
