❓ WA Parliament Question on Notice regarding policies and procedures for erasing hard drives of disposed photocopiers across various government departments and agencies, revealing inconsistent practices and reliance on external providers.
AnsweredQoN 3199Legislative Assembly
Asked
12 June 2018
Member
Portfolio
Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Energy; Aboriginal Affairs
QuestionView source ↗
In respect of the Minister’s portfolio responsibilities for any of their departments, agencies, government trading enterprises or boards I ask: (a) Are there any policies or procedures in place for erasing the hard-drives of photocopiers upon their disposal from the agency: (i) If so, what are they and what software is used to erase the hard-drive; and (ii) If not, why not; (b) Could the Minister provide a breakdown (make/model/software operating system) of the photocopiers that are in use (including which are connected to a WLAN, LAN etc. and which are stand-alone) as at: (i) 1 June 2016; (ii) 1 June 2017; and (iii) 1 June 2018; and (c) Are any of the photocopiers in (b)(i)-(iii) used to scan, replicate or print sensitive or confidential information: (i) If so, what type of sensitive or confidential information; and (ii) If so, what measures are put in place to ensure this information is not retained on the hard-drive of the photocopier?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 August 2018
Response time
9 days
Department of Treasury
(a) Department of Finance ICT (on behalf of Treasury) follows the Information Media Disposal Procedure whereby hard drives are removed from photocopiers and disposed of through a supplier. This is under the Common Use Agreement CUAWAS2016 – Waste Disposal and Recycling Services, whereby appropriate measures are taken to sanitise the hard drives.
(i-ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Department of Finance
(a) In accordance with the Information Media Disposal Procedure, hard drives are removed from photocopiers and disposed through a supplier under the Common Use Agreement CUAWAS2016 “Waste Disposal and Recycling Services” whereby appropriate measures are taken to sanitise the hard drives.
(i-ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Western Australia Treasury Corporation
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) No photocopiers have been disposed of.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Economic Regulation Authority
(a) Yes
(i) Disk Wipe is used to erase them, 7 passes.
(ii) Not applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
Please refer to the answer to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3196.
Aboriginal Policy and Coordination Unit
Please refer to the answer to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
Western Power
(a)(i-ii) The hard drives in photocopiers provided by Fuji Xerox are encrypted, preventing access to data. Upon disposal, the hard drives are physically destroyed.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Synergy
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) Synergy photocopiers do not contain hard drives
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Horizon Power
(a) Yes
(i) The hard drive on a photocopiers is physically destroyed upon disposal from the agency.
(ii) Not Applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Government Employees Superannuation Board
(a) Yes
(i) GESB’s Asset Disposal Policy requires that prior to disposal, photocopiers are checked to ensure that any sensitive information has been removed. The hard-drive is erased by the photocopier supplier.
(ii) Not Applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Fund
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) We do not store data on our photocopier's hard drive.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Insurance Commission of Western Australia
(a) Yes.
(i) A service request is raised for the photocopier disposal. The IT Division removes all network settings and data off the photocopier hard-drive prior to disposal using the vendor’s proprietary software. The vendor checks that all data has been removed and provides a certificate of destruction confirming that the data has been erased off the drive of the photocopier.
(ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Office of the Auditor General
(a) Yes
(i) The hard drives in obsolete photocopiers are erased by the photocopier technicians. They are removed from the photocopiers prior to the removal of the photocopiers from our office. The hard drives (8 in total) are retained by IT and are subsequently either:
- Destroyed (either via shredding or incineration, or both), along with other sensitive, obsolete IT equipment when we have collected enough material; or - Destruction is arranged via CUA WAS2016 ‘Waste Disposal and Recycling Services’, Category E.
The software used is the Kyocera 7550ci MFD Operating System installed on the photocopiers by the equipment manufacturer. The operating system provides a Data Sanitisation feature which is a security function that completely sanitises the data retained inside the device, using the three-time overwrite-erase or the U.S. DoD 5220.22-M three-pass.
(ii) Not applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
(a) Department of Finance ICT (on behalf of Treasury) follows the Information Media Disposal Procedure whereby hard drives are removed from photocopiers and disposed of through a supplier. This is under the Common Use Agreement CUAWAS2016 – Waste Disposal and Recycling Services, whereby appropriate measures are taken to sanitise the hard drives.
(i-ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Department of Finance
(a) In accordance with the Information Media Disposal Procedure, hard drives are removed from photocopiers and disposed through a supplier under the Common Use Agreement CUAWAS2016 “Waste Disposal and Recycling Services” whereby appropriate measures are taken to sanitise the hard drives.
(i-ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Western Australia Treasury Corporation
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) No photocopiers have been disposed of.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Economic Regulation Authority
(a) Yes
(i) Disk Wipe is used to erase them, 7 passes.
(ii) Not applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
Please refer to the answer to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3196.
Aboriginal Policy and Coordination Unit
Please refer to the answer to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
Western Power
(a)(i-ii) The hard drives in photocopiers provided by Fuji Xerox are encrypted, preventing access to data. Upon disposal, the hard drives are physically destroyed.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Synergy
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) Synergy photocopiers do not contain hard drives
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Horizon Power
(a) Yes
(i) The hard drive on a photocopiers is physically destroyed upon disposal from the agency.
(ii) Not Applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Government Employees Superannuation Board
(a) Yes
(i) GESB’s Asset Disposal Policy requires that prior to disposal, photocopiers are checked to ensure that any sensitive information has been removed. The hard-drive is erased by the photocopier supplier.
(ii) Not Applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Fund
(a) No
(i) Not applicable
(ii) We do not store data on our photocopier's hard drive.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Insurance Commission of Western Australia
(a) Yes.
(i) A service request is raised for the photocopier disposal. The IT Division removes all network settings and data off the photocopier hard-drive prior to disposal using the vendor’s proprietary software. The vendor checks that all data has been removed and provides a certificate of destruction confirming that the data has been erased off the drive of the photocopier.
(ii) Not applicable.
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
Office of the Auditor General
(a) Yes
(i) The hard drives in obsolete photocopiers are erased by the photocopier technicians. They are removed from the photocopiers prior to the removal of the photocopiers from our office. The hard drives (8 in total) are retained by IT and are subsequently either:
- Destroyed (either via shredding or incineration, or both), along with other sensitive, obsolete IT equipment when we have collected enough material; or - Destruction is arranged via CUA WAS2016 ‘Waste Disposal and Recycling Services’, Category E.
The software used is the Kyocera 7550ci MFD Operating System installed on the photocopiers by the equipment manufacturer. The operating system provides a Data Sanitisation feature which is a security function that completely sanitises the data retained inside the device, using the three-time overwrite-erase or the U.S. DoD 5220.22-M three-pass.
(ii) Not applicable
(b) Please see response to Legislative Assembly Question on Notice 3209.
(c) Not Applicable.
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