Users of digital photocopiers are being urged to reformat or remove the hard disks in their machines at the end of their life to avoid losing valuable company data.

UK office equipment website Online Connect is calling on firms to check data removal services and security technology offered by their suppliers after a recent report by US broadcaster CBS.

CBS, using a photocopier expert, purchased four machines from a used photocopier warehouse. Then, using a forensic software program available free on the internet, CBS was able to download hundreds of images including police records, payslips and social security numbers from the hard drives of the digital copiers.

Online Connect said, “Most manufacturers offer security software to remove data. The service technician can use the copier service mode to erase and reformat the hard drive. This option is available free of charge and can be carried out by your service technician at the end of the copier’s life.”

Third party data removal tools also exist and manufacturers should be able to give advice in this area, said Online Connect. But it warns, “Manufacturers have been extremely casual about security of copier hard drives. One important thing to consider is the obligations of companies and organisations to conform to the Data Protection Act.”

Online Connect says Xerox has become one of the first manufacturers to publicly offer hard drive removal at the end of the copier’s life. Most major copier firms also offer data encryption services for the hard disk in their products, but it is down to customers as to whether these are used or not.