THREE OF FOUR BUSINESSES IN UK DISCARD PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE COMMON TRASH.

A recent report in the UK newspaper The Scotsman revealed that 3 of 4 UK businesses do not destroy sensitive personal information about customers when throwing out trash. 93% of the companies polled said they treated the issue of identity theft seriously, however, their document disposal processes revealed a significant weakness in their processes.

91% of the businesses said they shred documents containing sensitive personal information. However the researches examined the contents of company trash and found sensitive customer business information including home addresses, phone numbers, and photocopies of passports.

At KnightsBridge Castle we investigate many cases of identity theft every day. Victims often have theories of how the identity theft attack occurred. They are almost always wrong. Identity theft originating in the workplace or from business records is still the most common vector for this crime. The second largest vector is identity theft crimes committed within the family.

We challenge all businesses to examine their trash on a regular basis to see what information is revealed in the trash. It is not enough to have a shredder and a policy. Businesses must routinely monitor their trash disposal to ensure that the shredder is used and the policy followed.