Another mortgage company out of business leads to more documents in the dumpster
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
3/19/08
Organization:
Affordable Realty
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
"hundreds"
Types of Data:
"Social Security numbers and financial records"
Breach Description:
"Social Security numbers and financial records of customers of a Flint-based realty mortgage company have been found in a dumpster. "
Reference URL:
WJRT ABC Channel 12 News
Report Credit:
Dawn Jones, ABC12 News Team
Response:
From the online source cited above:
The personal information of hundreds of local residents is now out in public view.
Social Security numbers and financial records of customers of a Flint-based realty mortgage company have been found in a dumpster.
Affordable Realty occupied office space inside the Ben Agree building on Dort Highway for years.
The company was evicted and all of its sensitive customer information ended up outside in a dumpster or on the ground nearby.
[Evan] Maybe the company figured that they had nothing to lose and just vacated the property. There is liability however. The leader(s) of the company is/are morally, ethically, and probably legally responsible for proper document destruction. There really is no excuse.
Included in the papers are bankruptcy statements, financial records, Social Security numbers and addresses of clients who once did business with Affordable Realty.
Witnesses say the business had recently been evicted and they report seeing Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies clearing the office space a few days ago.
[Evan] So am I safe to assume that the Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies actually had a hand in the poor handling of sensitive documents? Perhaps they could have been more careful and taken the time to identify sensitive documents before throwing them in the dumpster.
Since that time, at least one person claims to have seen people rummaging through the dumpster, picking up papers, going through them very carefully and walking away with some.
We talked to Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell about how this type of personal information should be handled.
"What the process server should have done is get the stuff, call the landlord and say 'I'm packing this up, I'm putting it into my truck, I'm taking it to my warehouse. You're gonna have to pay for the storage,'" Pickell told ABC12's Dawn Jones.
[Evan] And what the Sheriff's Deputies should have done is taken more care before throwing the documents in the dumpster.
The sheriff talks more about identity theft and how to protect your identity coming up later today on ABC12 News.
Commentary:
This isn't the first time we have read about personal information being discarded/disclosed in a public dumpster after a company has gone out of business. Last month included Union Mortgage Services of Cleveland, Inc. and First Magnus Financial Corporation. Throwing large amounts of documentation containing personal information in the trash is completely in-excusable and lazy. The good thing is that the companies are now out of business; the bad thing is that they may have taken some good people along with them.
I am concerned and uneasy about the fact that the Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies did not notice or take the time to investigate what the documents contained.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:3/19/08
Organization:
Affordable Realty
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
"hundreds"
Types of Data:
"Social Security numbers and financial records"
Breach Description:
"Social Security numbers and financial records of customers of a Flint-based realty mortgage company have been found in a dumpster. "
Reference URL:
WJRT ABC Channel 12 News
Report Credit:
Dawn Jones, ABC12 News Team
Response:
From the online source cited above:
The personal information of hundreds of local residents is now out in public view.
Social Security numbers and financial records of customers of a Flint-based realty mortgage company have been found in a dumpster.
Affordable Realty occupied office space inside the Ben Agree building on Dort Highway for years.
The company was evicted and all of its sensitive customer information ended up outside in a dumpster or on the ground nearby.
[Evan] Maybe the company figured that they had nothing to lose and just vacated the property. There is liability however. The leader(s) of the company is/are morally, ethically, and probably legally responsible for proper document destruction. There really is no excuse.
Included in the papers are bankruptcy statements, financial records, Social Security numbers and addresses of clients who once did business with Affordable Realty.
Witnesses say the business had recently been evicted and they report seeing Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies clearing the office space a few days ago.
[Evan] So am I safe to assume that the Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies actually had a hand in the poor handling of sensitive documents? Perhaps they could have been more careful and taken the time to identify sensitive documents before throwing them in the dumpster.
Since that time, at least one person claims to have seen people rummaging through the dumpster, picking up papers, going through them very carefully and walking away with some.
We talked to Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell about how this type of personal information should be handled.
"What the process server should have done is get the stuff, call the landlord and say 'I'm packing this up, I'm putting it into my truck, I'm taking it to my warehouse. You're gonna have to pay for the storage,'" Pickell told ABC12's Dawn Jones.
[Evan] And what the Sheriff's Deputies should have done is taken more care before throwing the documents in the dumpster.
The sheriff talks more about identity theft and how to protect your identity coming up later today on ABC12 News.
Commentary:
This isn't the first time we have read about personal information being discarded/disclosed in a public dumpster after a company has gone out of business. Last month included Union Mortgage Services of Cleveland, Inc. and First Magnus Financial Corporation. Throwing large amounts of documentation containing personal information in the trash is completely in-excusable and lazy. The good thing is that the companies are now out of business; the bad thing is that they may have taken some good people along with them.
I am concerned and uneasy about the fact that the Genesee County Sheriff's Deputies did not notice or take the time to investigate what the documents contained.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
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