My wife and I are almost fanatical about shopping at Costco Warehouse stores.  There's something exhilarating about buying everything from tenderloin to toilet paper in quantities that could supply an army battalion.  And the samples...ah, the free samples!  But I digress.  Every month as part of our Costco membership, The Costco Connection arrives in our mailbox.  This unassuming little periodical publishes feature articles, interviews, self-help pieces, seasonal recipes, and of course, numerous advertisements for Costco merchandise.  Each issue also includes a little section entitled "Consumer Connection" authored by noted consumer advocate David Horowitz.  And the December 2009 "Consumer Connection" contained a real zinger.

Horowitz highlights a potential nightmare scenario that recently unfolded at the University of Missouri.  Quoting Horowitz:

"The University of Missouri was embarrassed recently when it learned that a box of old cellphones they'd sold for scrap had not been wiped clean: The devices still held contact lists, text messages, voice mails and other potentially sensitive information."

But it gets worse.  Horowitz goes on:

"After the university realized the information had been left on the phones, officials quietly tried to buy them back. They also offered to simply wipe the data clean if the buyer brought them back. But the buyer said no,"

leaving Mizzou rather exposed.

Would it be fair to say: "I told you so?"

In my three-part series on "Shadow Risks," the third installment highlights the potential risks posed by technology asset disposal.  Here in microcosm, we see the physical manifestation of those risks.  What's more, The Costco Connection isn't CIO Magazine - far from it.  The Mizzou case illustrates how mainstream this problem has become.  It also illustrates an important corollary to my original thesis on shadow risks: handheld devices (cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, etc.) are equally at risk.

In the coming weeks, CA ITAM Evangelist Howard Hastings and I will take a deeper look at what you should consider when developing a comprehensive disposal policy.  In retrospect, had Mizzou scoped and implemented a rigorous technology asset disposal policy, it's doubtful they'd be in the unenviable, embarrassing and risky situation they find themselves in now.

For my part, I'm off to Costco.  I've got to buy a case of canned green beans, a 5 gallon jug of laundry detergent and a sweater...