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| Contact: Deborah Sturm Rausch 518.473.9472|518.474.2896 |
For Immediate Release: September 16, 2008 |
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NYS Consumer Protection Board And The Empire State Development Corporation Announce A Free Public Shredding Day
To Help Consumers Prevent Identity Theft
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Rochester, NY…. The New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) and National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) today announced that they are
sponsoring a free public Shredding Day on Thursday, September 18, 2008 from 9:00
A.M. until 2:00 P.M. The event will be held at Classified Shredding Services,
located at 425 Paul Road, Rochester, just four miles West of the Rochester
Airport. Shredding is a reliable way of safely and properly disposing of documents containing private information about individuals and their families, including about children, that, if discarded improperly, could be a conduit to identity theft. Consumers are invited to bring personal documents including paper, CDs, DVDs, credit cards and floppy disks with a limit of two file boxes per person to be shredded. “Document shredding has become an essential weapon in the fight against identity theft,” said CPB Chairperson and Executive Director Mindy A. Bockstein, “and we are pleased to offer this service. According to the Federal Trade Commission, approximately 10 million Americans become victims of identity theft each year, and that number continues to grow. While we’re not trying to scare people, the CPB is trying to raise awareness about the need to shred our important materials. We must be our own best advocates, and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves. With this Shredding Day, the CPB is affording people who may not have a shredder at home with the means to do just that.” Dumpster diving, which is the process of looking through trash for private information that can be harvested and used to steal someone’s identity, is a reality about which consumers must be aware. Scammers go through trash to obtain copies of checks, credit card or bank statements, medical records or other documents and then use the identifying information they find to steal people’s identity and secure services fraudulently. “It’s my pleasure to join with Chairperson and Executive Director Bockstein in this important effort to protect personal information in the hopes of creating a safer environment for children,” said Edward Suk, NCMEC Executive Director. “We are encouraging people to shred their documents and personal information, especially data about their children as part of our mission to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation.” More than 16,000 complaints were filed with the FTC by New Yorkers in 2006. New York State is 6th per capita in identity theft complaints. About.com estimates that “upwards of 80 percent or more households do not take the necessary steps to prevent dumpster diving.” The US Supreme Court in its 1998 case, California vs. Greenwood, stated, "Society would not accept as reasonable [a] claim to an expectation of privacy in trash left for collection in an area accessible to the public." That basically means, in most places, if you throw something in the trash, it becomes available to the public. Classified Shredding Services, a division of Lifetime Assistance, Inc., is a member of the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID). NAID is the international, non-profit trade association of the information destruction industry and holds the industry’s highest security certification. The certification establishes minimum standards for employees, screening, operations, the destruction process and insurance. “It is a great benefit to the individuals who are employed by the Lifetime Assistance Work Center to be able to do meaningful work such as this,” said CEO of Lifetime Assistance James Brancifort. “Our goal is to shred documents according to strict standards to protect the privacy of those involved and to be environmentally-, and consumer-friendly at the same time.” Information on how to prevent and respond to identity theft is available on the CPB’s website at www.nysconsumer.gov. The CPB, established in 1970 by the New York State Legislature, is the State's top consumer watchdog and think tank. The CPB's core mission is to protect New Yorkers by publicizing unscrupulous and questionable business practices and product recalls; conducting investigations and hearings; enforcing the “Do Not Call Law”; researching issues; developing legislation; creating consumer education programs and materials; responding to individual marketplace complaints by securing voluntary agreements; and, representing the interests of consumers before the Public Service Commission and other State and federal agencies. |
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To file a consumer complaint with the NYS Consumer Protection Board (CPB), call our toll-free hotline at 800-697-1220 or visit CPB’s website at www.nysconsumer.gov. In addition to the online complaint form, the website is home to important consumer safety information. To join the CPB’s Do Not Call Reminder list, send an e-mail to CPB's Do Not Call Reminder list |