Editorial: Treating privacy like trash

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

T he latest incident involving a Las Vegas office building whose owners have had a history of being sloppy with their trash was much more than a public nuisance. On Dec. 20 a neighbor on the lookout for loose garbage near the building checked on numerous boxes in its trash bin. Altogether there were 40 boxes, and all were stuffed with documents containing highly personal information on thousands of people.

Revealed were Social Security numbers, details of bank accounts, copies of driver's licenses and other private information.

The neighbor who made the discovery, at 811 S. Decatur Blvd., called Las Vegas code enforcement officials as well as Lois Tarkanian, his city councilwoman. "I looked at the boxes, and I will tell you I was shocked," Tarkanian told Las Vegas Sun reporter Abigail Goldman. "To let them float around like that. Imagine who had their whole lives in there."

Metro Police also responded and called a man to the scene who runs two businesses out of the building plus a third business, a mortgage company, just down the street. The man said he didn't know what was in the boxes or who could have put them in the trash bin.

So for now the documents are a mystery. Were all of the discarded boxes recovered? Who knows? One thing is known, however. The boxes were an identity thief's dream.

While Metro Police are safeguarding the boxes, they are not investigating, having concluded that their disposal in an open trash bin apparently did not violate any local laws. Metro did, however, notify federal officials, as such carelessness would violate the federal Disposal Rule, which sets standards for how records containing personal information are to be destroyed.

State law also requires businesses to take "reasonable measures" when they are disposing of such documents.

We hope this incident is thoroughly investigated by both state and federal authorities, as it goes far beyond nuisance ordinances. Such disregard of privacy has the potential to financially ruin thousands of people.