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March 5, 2012

Medical Record Shredding in Greensboro

The North Carolina Attorney General is investigating how several bags of medical information ended up on a road in Montgomery County. The records came from Professional Medical Resources Inc., a drug testing company that is now out of business. The contained contact information and social security numbers. Every thing needed to set up false credit accounts.

 The seems to be another level of carelessness. Only a fool would think that paper left in a dumpster are safe. But what do you call someone who didn’t even put in the effort to get the records into a dumpster?

This is where I say that the cost of Greensboro shredding services are very affordable. But if someone isn’t even willing to have their own trash taken away then any amount of money would be too much. The problem is the officers of the company will now have to pay fines for the HIPAA shredding violations.

Filed under: dumpster diving,hipaa — admin @ 5:25 am

February 21, 2012

Tax Preparer Needs a Shredder

Mo’ Money Taxes in Memphis, Tennessee got some unwelcome PR this week. The business was found with a dumpster full of their clients past tax returns. The timeline seems to be that the company was closing down the location. The owner says they tried to get a shredder but they were booked for the week. Then the lease ended and the land lord just threw the papers into the trash.

There were serveral mistakes made that led to the problem. The first is that the tax service should have made a second call. There are several Memphis Shredding Services. If one was booked then it is time to call the next. Any good business person is going to want at least three quotes to make sure you are getting the right service and the right price.

The second mistake was by the land lord. It must have been obvious that a tax service would have sensitive information. They could have a hired the shredding service and taken the fees out of the deposit. I don’t think he should be absolved of any wrongdoing.  When they took control of the office then they took control of the files.

 

Filed under: dumpster diving,FACTA — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:24 am

January 17, 2012

New York City Shredding

The New York City Police Department is in a bit of hot water. They told residents that there was group of people who were posing and bottle collectors to get personal information out of the trash. It seems like good advice since identity theft rings can pay drug addicts to do the dirty work and pay them very little.

The problem is they didn’t follow their own advice. A News 12 reporter recently discovered personal files in a trash can at a Bronx station. It is unclear who is responsible for the slip up.  However, based on the cavailer response by the police department it is probably a problem waiting to happen again.

For those of you in New York City we have a better solution than just hoping no one is looking in your trash. A secure New York shredding service will pick up your documents, shred them, and provide the recycling. One call and we can get you competitive rates with the best providers in the city.

Filed under: dumpster diving — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:08 pm

January 10, 2012

Student Files Need Shredded

Miller Elementary in the Santa Maria-Benita School District was cleaning out a storge room over the winter break and ended up throwing boxes of files from students who were applying for assisted lunch. These included the financial records for the families. The records were discovered by a woman throwing out some trash. She rep0rted the incident to the news.

I will refrain from going over the problems with leaving things in the dumpster since we have written about it so many times before. What is more interesting to me is how this all happened.

From the reports the financial records from students were left in boxes right next to boxes of textbooks. They were obviously not stored very securely. They were not locked up with other important files. It makes sense why the people cleaning the room thought that they were of little import and could be left in the trash.

Documents with personal information should be handled with care from creation through shredding.  Basic security is keeping them locked up. Physical access should only be provided with people who need to see the student files and their personal information.

An unlocked room of documents is a hidden threat. An employee could go into the room and take files from the middle of the shelves. It is unlikely that they would ever be missed. They information could be stolen with impunity.

The bottom line is to set aside all important documents. Clearly label them so mistakes are not made. Put them in a locked room or file cabinet. Give access only to those who truly need it.

Filed under: dumpster diving — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:47 am

December 22, 2011

Shredding Needed in Gallatin, Tennessee

A woman in Gallatin, Tennessee found more than just trash when she visited the Sumner County Resource Authority center last week. The dumpster was full of medical records. Not shredding medical records is a clear violation of HIPAA. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, turned the material over to the Tennessee Department Health Investigator. She found three large garbage bags full of records but it is unclear if that is all that were dumped.

It will be a great day when we don’t have to report on medical practices that treat their patients so poorly. The cost of a medical records shredding service is far less than the class action lawsuit that is allowed under HIPAA. It also keeps private information out of the hands of identity theives.  I imagine if given the option these patients would have come back and picked up their records instead of having them left in the trash.

Filed under: dumpster diving,hipaa — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:20 pm

November 28, 2011

Not Shredding Costs $200,000

If you want to know how much is costs for shredding we can help you out with an exact number based on what you have. If you want to know how much it costs in Kansas we now can help you with that also. Lone Star Business Solutions, a payroll company in Wichita, Kansas was handling payroll for national companies but failing to shred the employees information.

The problem was discovered and reported to Fact Finder 12.  They ran a story of the problem and got the attention of Derek Schmidt, the Kansas Attorney General. After their investigation the company will pay a fine of $200,000. They company will also take steps to protect the information in their care.

If you don’t have $200,000 in petty cash and would like to save some money with Kansas shredding service we have serveral options. Records can be shredded at your location or at a secure shredding plant. Either solution will you provide you with a certificate of destruction. This can save you business from similar fines.

Filed under: dumpster diving — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:31 pm

November 22, 2011

Files Found in Portsmouth, Ohio

The Ohio State Highway Patrol responded to a complaint about personal records in a dumpster in Portsmouth, Ohio. The officers did find several dumpsters filled with personal information behind the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission office. 

The matter has been turned over to Inspector General Randall Meyer of the Ohio Office of the Inspector General. He said he is investigating the issue and will notify people if their information was compromised.

Judging by the photo they were doing a file purge. This would swamp the average office shredder. The only solution is to use an industrial shredder. The good news is they can be built into trucks and brought right to your location. This is a mobile shredding service. Or they have an even bigger shredder at a plant. This one will shred ten tons of paper an hour.

But what about the cost? All you need to do is compare apples to apples. Lets assume you already own the impossibly perfect shredder (never breaks or needs repair). The wages of paying someone to sit in front of the shredder for hours and hours is more than what a service is going to cost. For example you might have a small job of just a dozen boxes. It takes an hour or two per box at $10 an hour. A service will charge around $5 per box. So easily half the cost.

Filed under: dumpster diving — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:15 am

November 4, 2011

Shredding in Albany, Georgia

Jack and Jill Daycare in Albany, Georgia is in need of a good shredding service. They business closed a location and left all their documents behind. This included personal information for their students. This not only violates FACTA but Georgia Senate Bill 475. For those not familiar with the law it targets identity theft and requires business to shred personal information. It is one of the strictest in laws in the country.

Shredding services in Albany can help. They take care of problems like old and expired documents. For a fraction of the cost of employees the paper is shredded and recycled. What is time consuming with an office shredder is done in no time with industrial equipment. Best of all is no lawyers fees when the attorney general comes knocking on your door.

Filed under: dumpster diving — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:16 am

October 17, 2011

Lawyer in Hot Water Over Shredding

Prominent Gainesville attorney, Ashley Bell is answering some difficult questions about his document management policies. Mr. Bell is a member of the County Board of Commisioners. Sensitive information about juveniles that Mr. Bell turned up in a recycling bin at The Gainesville Times. 

A college intern is being blamed for the incident. She drove up to the recycling bin at the Gainesville time with several of boxes of court records. She told an attendent that the court had sent her to dispose of the records. The attendent said the bins were not secure but she insisted on leaving them.

The office issued a statement the intern id not follow proper procedures. They said shredding was a “laborious task.” If the office is having trouble getting the work done or if they find it too “laborious” to perform they can always find shredding services in Gainesville. Mr. Bell said ” You can’t watch your employees every day.” By using a service he wouldn’t have to hope the work was done because he would have a certificate of destruction proving it was done.

Filed under: dumpster diving — admin @ 1:24 pm

October 4, 2011

Medical Record Shredding in Lonetree

Medical records from Dentistry at the Crest in Lonetree were found on the street in Aurora. This is an obvious violation of HIPAA privacy rules. They were found by a street sweeper behind a shopping center. It is unclear how the documents got there. My suspicion is they wanted to skip hiring a Denver shredding service and thought they could just hid them in a dumpster on the other side of town. I have no doubt that it works on occasion we have posted enough stories to see that dumpsters attract a lot of passersby to peak in.

Filed under: dumpster diving,hipaa — admin @ 11:28 am
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