Attorney General Sends Staples an Inquiry

State Attorney General George Jepsen has written a letter to Staples, Inc. to inquire about used and refurbished products sold by Staples Canada, Inc. after it was learned that such products contained customer information from their previous owners.

A recently released audit conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada found that more than one third of the items tested still held private customer information.

“The results of the audit raise concerns about used or refurbished devices Staples, Inc. may be selling in the United States, and more specifically in Connecticut,” Jepsen wrote.

Jepsen said the OPPC audit found that data storage devices contained information such as personal correspondence, passport numbers, social insurance numbers (which are similar to Social Security numbers in the United States), driver’s license numbers, employment information, tax records and academic transcripts.

The audit also discovered that the sales packaging falsely claimed the store had verified that the data storage devices had been wiped clean.

“It is critically important that used and refurbished products are scrubbed of any personal information by previous owners,” Jepsen said. “I have raised concerns with Staples and hope to have a cooperative dialogue with its representatives.”

Assistant Attorney General Matt Fitzsimmons is representing the attorney genera's office in the matter.

Click on the attached PDF file to access Jepsen's entire letter.