A new study by a professor at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) indicates that taking your computer to a repair facility may expose your personal information on the system.

The study was conducted by Dr. Hassan Khan of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and involved 18 service providers ranging from national electronics chains to small local stores. Computers were rigged with disabled audio drivers, a quick and simple fix not requiring extensive examination of the computer to fix. The devices were also rigged with log files tracking what the repair technicians did with the computer.

While a small study, the findings are worrisome.

Key highlights include:

• None of the service providers have procedures in place to guarantee the confidentiality of information on the computer brought in for service.
• In half of the cases, technicians looked at files that had no relation to the repair.
• In several cases…