Patent ID: 7979702

Claim:
A method for protecting privacy of a user of a managed device before the managed device is transferred to a new user, the method comprising: receiving a decommission command to disable a manageability function of a management subsystem on the managed device, the decommission command being received from a management console, and the manageability function for providing information pertaining to the user of the managed device to the management console; determining that the decommission command is authentic; collecting user information pertaining to the user of the managed device and providing the user information to the management console; and disabling the manageability function of the management subsystem on the managed device, to protect privacy of the user of the managed device before the new user of the managed device uses the managed device, by: selectively clearing a first portion of non-volatile memory dedicated to the manageability function while leaving a second portion of non-volatile memory not dedicated to the manageability function intact to allow the management subsystem to continue to operate for other purposes; and permanently locking out subsequent changes to the configuration of the management subsystem by setting protected lockout bits located in a third portion of non-volatile memory such that neither local nor remote software can reactivate the manageability function.