Now that the 2012 election has come to an end, doors are closing for thousands of temporary campaign offices across the country. As campaigns have continued to collect more detailed and sophisticated voter information, these temporary offices have become more technologically advanced. With offices from national to state and local campaigns all shutting their doors, what is being done with devices that house that sensitive data?
For devices storing sensitive voter information, it is important that this data is permanently removed before the devices are sold, recycled, or otherwise disposed of. Chris Dorobek of the DorobekINSIDER spoke with Nathan Jones, Executive Spokesperson for WhiteCanyon, regarding the need for information security, especially during the post-election cleanup. Speaking to Dorobek, Jones warns that if data is not properly and thoroughly removed from devices, it isn’t difficult to recover that information to use for malicious purposes.
Jones pointed out, “You have thousands of these campaign headquarters […] with hundreds of thousands of laptops, desktops, and servers, and they’ve got all kinds of data like volunteer information, call lists, who their donors are – obviously this kind of information would be devastating if they’re not securing it.” With mobile access to data through cloud technology, there are more ways to access campaign data than ever before. Making sure that information security keeps pace as campaigns become even more data driven is a challenge going into the next election cycle.
Nathan Jones talks election headquarters virtual security by GovLoop Insights
Great post – falls in the category of, “Wish I’d thought of that question.” Will be interesting to see how and where this voter information surfaces and gets used.