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A lawsuit filed today by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot alleges employees at a CVS drug store in Liberty, about 40 miles northeast of Houston, tossed hundreds of sensitive customer documents into a dumpster. Houston Public Radio’s Jack Williams reports.
The documents included credit and debit card receipts, social security numbers and sensitive medical and prescription information. The paperwork was discovered last month behind a CVS store that had closed. Abbott’s lawsuit alleges CVS violated a Texas identity theft law passed in 2005 that requires businesses to destroy sensitive customer information. He has advice for other businesses.
“Shred or otherwise dispose of all customer information in a way that no one can have access to. We’re talking about credit card information, debit card information as well as medical information. If they fail to do so, they’ll pay a very heavy price.”
Cora Bechtel’s debit card receipts were found in the CVS dumpster. She says she was shocked her information had been discarded so carelessly.
“You know, we’re supposed to be protected, our personal information, our medical information, our finanancial information and when it’s exposed to the public, it’s scary.”
CVS could face fines of up to $500 for each discarded record. In a written statement, the company says the records were improperly discarded in violation of CVS’s retention and privacy policies and that the store manager has since been fired.
