NBC2 investigation draws ire of regulators
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The Naples branch of Citifinancial, the nation’s largest financial institution, threw away more than 1,000 customer files without shredding them, exposing drivers licenses, credit reports, social security numbers, bank accounts, and other sensitive information – a treasure trove for any identity thief. The branch manager at the Naples office said he threw away more the customer files because he couldn’t find a shredder anywhere in town. To the surprise of many, there are no state or federal criminal laws that stop lending companies like Citifinancial from taking your personal financial files and throwing them on the street for anyone to take. Now power players in Tallahassee are making a move to protect your privacy from being trashed. “It’s very disturbing. It should not happen. Companies need to be far more sensitive,” said Florida deputy comptroller Art Simon. Simon, a former state legislator, is now the state’s second most powerful regulator of the financial industry. He watched NBC2’s investigation report in frustration Monday night as he saw the huge number of consumers who had their privacy thrown into a trash bin. He now says he’ll use the NBC2 investigation of Citifinancial to convince state legislators to write a new law that will require lending institutions to protect your sensitive financial information. “I think this is precisely the information we need to go to Tallahassee to convince people it’s in the public’s interest, and also in the industry’s best interest, that we have tough standards for disposal of records that protect consumer privacy,” Simon said. State investigators working for him in the Department of Banking and Finance confiscated all the files NBC2 found in Citifinancial’s trash bin. Without a better privacy law, they’re searching for anything they can find to crack down on Citifinancial — hoping to find recent documents the company threw away. “They have to retain the records for two years after the last entry on the particular loan file. That’s the kind of stuff we’re looking for,” said Mark Mathosian of the Department of Banking and Finance. Customers like Carol McElroy, who had her financial information thrown away, want the state to empower investigators and require financial institutions to shred every old document. “I feel its a safety issue. If someone has this they know my car, they know my number, they know everything about me,” McElroy said. She’s now looking to Tallahassee, hoping for a quick response. Beginning in May 2003, the Federal Trade Commission will have added authority to investigate companies like Citifinancial for failing to protect customer information. But even then, it won’t have the ability to issue fines for privacy violations unless the company has already been in trouble with the FTC or unless it can prove actual damages. Further, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the middle district of Florida says no federal agency has the ability to criminally prosecute companies for privacy violations. |