Careless and Common Shredding Mistakes
January 3, 2009
Files from the PA B.A.S.S. Federation of Mercer County and other western PA counties were among the documents that were carelessly discarded into a magazine recycling dumpster in Old Lycoming Township in Williamsport, PA. The documents contained boat insurance forms, treasurer’s reports, and state tournament applications with names, social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. Local police were notified about the potential for Identity Theft from this careless disposal of records.
March 16, 2006
The Human Resource Department of a company on Reach Road in Williamsport, PA, shredded personnel files in-house and gave the bags of shredded documents to a farmer for animal bedding. Several bags were lost along Route 15 North and littered the highway. The documents were strip-cut and contained names, social security numbers, dates of hire, and reasons for termination. The files were cut in the same direction as the printing allowing the information for each employee to be intact and legible. The company was contacted but refused to take responsibility for the breach of confidential employee information. The farmer returned to rake up the remaining shreds one week later.
January 11, 2006
A government office in Williamsport, PA discarded over 30 bags of strip-cut documents in clear trash bags just 20 feet from a busy city street. The dumpster area was easily accessible to pedestrians. The office was contacted about the potential for theft and “dumpster diving”. Within a few weeks, the dumpster was secured with a padlock and the area was enclosed with a security fence.
