Illinois AG sues Payday Loan Store over improper disposal of customer data

[Christine Fulgham <christine () opensecurityfoundation org>]

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=14735


Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit
Court against The Payday Loan Store of Illinois, Inc. (PLS), for allegedly
failing to safeguard customer data as promised. The Attorney General filed
the suit after learning that documents containing customers’ personal
information had turned up in trash bins outside four store locations.

“Data security is absolutely critical to protecting consumers from identity
theft,” Attorney General Madigan said. “Businesses that collect, use and
ultimately dispose of sensitive personal information must live up to their
promises to protect that information from unauthorized access in order to
protect the financial privacy of consumers.”

PLS, which sells high-cost, short-term loans throughout Illinois, provides
customers with a privacy policy that promises the company will protect their
customers’ personal information by maintaining physical, electronic and
procedural safeguards in compliance with federal regulations. The Attorney
General’s complaint alleges, however, that PLS did not maintain those
safeguards and instead disposed of customers’ personal information in
publicly accessible trash containers.

The complaint alleges that a concerned individual alerted Bolingbrook police
that he had found documents containing sensitive information in a trash
container behind the PLS location in Bolingbrook. The police retrieved
approximately two boxes of documents containing nonpublic personal
information, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers,
financial account numbers and PLS loan account numbers.

[...]

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