Dumpster Full Of Amateur Athletes' Records Found At Storage Complex
POSTED: 6:58 am EDT May 16, 2008
http://www.wftv.com/news/16288839/detail.html
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A tip from a Channel 9 viewer led to a dumpster that was filled with boxes of personal information from a national youth sports organization called the Amateur Athletic Union. The boxes were dumped off South Orange Blossom Trail near SR-417.
The man who found the boxes said he was at Public Storage putting some things in his unit when he noticed a dumpster overflowing with paperwork. There was hardly any room left to put anything else in the large trash container.
He took a closer look and found information on athletes and their guardians, everything from social security numbers to copies of birth certificates. The documents found indicate they're all old records from a non-profit group based in Lake Buena Vista called the Amateur Athletic Union, otherwise known as the AAU.
According to its website, the AAU claims to be one of the largest non-profit volunteer organizations in the United States dedicated to the promotion and development of amateur sports.
In a day when identity theft is a real problem, much of the paperwork that was found in the dumpster contained information that the tipster believes should never be left behind in someone's garbage, especially when none of the documents are shredded.
"I was actually just concerned about the papers and my wife was involved in some identity theft," said Pedro Carrasquillo, the tipster. "A lot of young people in there, young names, not just names, but social security numbers."
Representatives from the organization claimed they knew nothing about the records. One man, who claimed to be a sports manager for AAU, Eddie Clinton, even hung up on Eyewitness News after saying "what are you trying to do, make a big deal out of this,".
Sheriff's office deputies look at what was found in the dumpster. They said they would like to confiscate all of the papers. The boxes of records were still in the dumpster Friday morning, but were later picked up.
Two private security officers were sitting in the parking lot near the dumpster Friday morning. They would only say they were asked by Public Storage to watch the area Thursday night.
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Confidata document destruction located in Utica New York, is a member of NAID and follows FACTA and HIPAA records destruction requirements. CONFIDATA is a division of Empire Recycling Corporation
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