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The Auditor General issued a report dated May 4, 2009 entitled “Review of Disposal of Surplus IT Equipment – Security, Environmental and Financial Risks.”

In general terms, this report addressed the controls over the disposal of computer equipment particularly in relation to the requirement to erase information on computer hard drives as part of the disposal process. This report which was specifically related to computer equipment contained 5 recommendations which addressed improvements in the security, environmental and financial risk areas.

In 2011, it was brought to the attention of the Auditor General that similar risks may apply to the disposal of digital photocopiers. As a result, it was determined that a review focused specifically on an examination of safeguards in place to protect sensitive and confidential information stored on hard drives contained in digital photocopiers would be appropriate and added this project to the Auditor General’s 2011 Work Plan.

This report contains two recommendations along with a management response to each of the recommendations. The implementation of these recommendations will improve the overall effectiveness of the City’s practices to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure of data stored on hard drives contained in digital photocopiers.