MAP LLC, also known as Mid Atlantic Processing, was charged with violations of Maryland’s Personal Information Protection Act when, according to the Attorney General Douglas Gansler, the company disposed of company records in a dumpster when closing down its Owings Mills (Md.) office in May 2009.
The boxes apparently included private and sensitive consumer information, a violation of the state’s information protection legislation which deems it an “unfair and deceptive trade practice to destroy records containing customers’ personal information without taking reasonable steps to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the personal information”, according to a statement released by Attorney General’s office.
“Mid Atlantic Processing did not take the required steps to safeguard the privacy of their customers’ personal information, making them vulnerable to identity theft,” Gansler said. “When a business disposes of its client records that contain personal consumer information, it needs to shred the records or take other steps necessary to ensure that a consumer’s privacy is not compromised.”
Maryland’s Consumer Protection Division took possession of the boxes, and will now turn them back over to MAP and the company’s officers so they may “reasonably dispose” of the records. The settlement includes a $20 000 fine, and assurance by MAP that future records disposal will be conducted by a shredding company.
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