M&T Bank dumps personal information: Naughty Business of the Week
We know you take care of your personal information in your own home by shredding documents, right? And you probably expect that your bank and other financial institutions take the same precautions too?
But according to this WMAR-TV report last week, an M&T Bank branch in Rodgers Forge had tossed documents listing customers' personal information into a dumpster without shredding or otherwise destroying them first. Reporters found recent letters, papers with account numbers and even a copy of one customer's driver's license, according to the story.
The branch was originally part of Bradford Bank, which was taken over by M&T in August.
An M&T spokesman said the mistake stemmed from one employee's error. Most of the data was old or obsolete, he told WMAR, and credit monitoring has been offered to affected customers.
But the breach violates both federal and state regulations, according to ...
... Hugh Williams, coordinator of the Identity Theft unit of the Maryland Attorney General's office.
M&T Bank is required to comply with the Gramm Leach Bliley Act and the Red Flags Rule, both of which are federal privacy laws that require the destruction of records, Williams wrote in an e-mail.
And Bradford, which was a state chartered bank, was subject to Maryland's security breach law, Williams said.
Categories: Identity theft, Naughty businesses/NBotW
