Incident: Confidential customer information found behind pharmacy in Detroit

There is no end to these stories. A Detroit news outlet is reporting on the discovery of personal customer information in a dumpster behind an area pharmacy:

ClickOnDetroit.com - News - Rite Aid Customers' Info Found Behind Store:

"Police Concerned About Identity Theft

POSTED: 2:39 pm EST January 3, 2005

An investigation is under way to find out how folders containing store receipts with confidential customer information ended up behind a local Rite Aid Monday.

Local 4 reported the customer receipts contained credit card numbers, expiration dates, home telephone numbers and addresses, plus customers' signatures.

Clinton Township police discovered the receipts in the dumpster behind the store at 16 Mile and Groesbeck...."

Any organization, but particularly one that deals with health information, needs to adopt a policy that no paper leaves the premises unless it is shredded or in a locked box, headed to the shredders.

See also WXYZ coverage:

WXYZ: Local News:

"...'It may have happened before, and I guess the question would be how many other businesses are doing this?' Mills said. 'If they are, I would highly recommend that they please shred everything. When you get somebody's information like this, you could actually ruin their credit and ruin their life for a long time.'..."