A few weeks ago I featured a Good Question story on how you can never completely erase everything from your computer's hard drive. See the story here.
Computer experts explain to me that basically you can overwrite files by "pancaking" new information on top of old files, but those old files can be erased and exposed. Not good news if you are trying to keep sensitive personal files secret, or out of the hands of a computer crook that can sell your information and steal your identity.
A lesson Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick learned after trying to cover up a scandal. Sexy text messages between the mayor and his former chief of staff revealed an affair, an attempt to cover up a multi-million dollar whistle blower payout, and the mayor's attempt to hand pick the city's police internal affairs department, a team investigating the mayor.
A Mike Wendland Free Press article shows how a Detroit city council attorney was able to retrieve the text messages, which were held on a company computer file, after they were thought to be erased. Oops!