Secondhand item came with previous owner's files on the SD card, do I return the card or format it?
I bought a 3d printer off Ebay which got delivered not too long ago, and it came with 2 sd cards - one with a build video and some demo print files, but worryingly another card that has all the previous owner's personal files on there.
Not sure whether to format it, or to contact the seller offering to send the card back (free of charge)... how would you prefer to be approached in a similar situation?
Edit: No gcode files are on the card, just 30gb of pictures, music and videos. Sent the seller a message offering to upload it to cloud or to send the card back
Firstly, never stick a storage drive into your personal machine that was previously owned by an individual. If you need to use the drive always open it on a machine disconnected from the Internet that contains no personal files. Better would be to boot up a live Linux machine and read the drive and format if needed.
As long as you don't open any executables, you'll be fine.
What's the chance that the seller has a 0day (which would be veeery valuable) and is using it to steal data from someone random? Not worth it for sure on their side.
It's entirely possible this drive was made maliciously to pass on data from whatever unsuspecting soul uses it. The seller op bought from could even be a victim themselves. You just never know.
Best security practices are pointless if you disregard them because they're inconvenient and unlikely to be necessary. Most needles I find on the ground are clean too, but I'm not just gonna stick them in me because the odds are in my favor.
Upload the files to google drive or the like, send the seller a message with the link and an explanation. Give them 14 days to download it. Delete files.
Idk how big these files are. Too big and my idea won't work