There's a couple things people are neglecting:
1) The value of the data to someone else, and
2) the cost of retrieving that data.
If #1 is sufficiently low and #2 is sufficiently high, you shouldn't
worry. I expect that's the case for most of us on this list.
Of course, from within one's own ego, inspired by the constant message
of the media and your government ("FEAR! FEAR!"), it would seem that
the value of the data is immense, and the cost of retrieving it trivial.
But try to not be so full of yourself for a moment: just what makes
you think it is worth it to someone to go to the trouble to try to get
stuff off your drive? Even if, somewhere on that drive, you once had
your credit card information listed in a file, or an income tax return
from five years ago, do you think someone's going to look through
every block on the drive, through old photographs, tons of OM list
email, useless system cache files, all that shareware you've
downloaded, etc. just to find the juicy bits that may be worth
something to someone?
"Security through obscurity" is a powerful concept. The real hackers
go after high-value targets, because the cost of finding something
useful is so high.
:::: Monoculture is where the logic of nature collides with the logic
of economics; which logic will ultimately prevail can never be in
doubt. -- Michael Pollan ::::
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality http://www.EcoReality.org ::::
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