CVS Pharmacy Dumps Customer Records
According to the lawsuit, the Liberty Texas branch of CVS Corporation violated the Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, which requires businesses to protect customer files containing private information. Each violation carries a fee of up to $50,000.
Abbott has also charged CVS with violating Chapter 35 of the Business and Commerce Code, which requires businesses to properly dispose of customer records containing personal information. There is a $500 fee for each abandoned record.
According to AOL Money News, CVS admitted the files were dumped, stating that it was a violation of their record retention and privacy policy. The documents were copies that had been stored in the manager's office.
"Following an internal investigation, the store manager was separated from the company and we have cooperated fully with the Attorney General's investigation into this matter," a CVS spokesperson is reported as saying. The company claimed the records were old and contained no recent information.
Abbott is investigating other branches of CVS Pharmacy to see if dumping records is common practice. It's unclear at this time if any personal information has been stolen.
According to the Texas Office of the Attorney General, this is the fourth time in the last two months a company has been charged under the Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, which has been in place since 2005.
In March, On Track Modeling, a talent agency, closed its office in Grand Prairie and abandoned hundreds of client records. That same month, Jones Beauty College in Dallas threw out financial aid forms that contained students' social security numbers. On April 2, the Attorney General's office filed charges against RadioShack after their Corpus Christi store dumped boxes full of receipts.
"Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. Texas law protects sensitive personal information in order to prevent this widespread crime," Attorney General Abbott states on his website. "Texans can rest assured that we will continue aggressively cracking down on vendors who jeopardize the confidentiality of their clients' sensitive information."
To file a complaint or learn how to detect and prevent identity theft, visit www.oag.state.tx.us.
SOURCES:
"CVS admits customer data went in Dumpster," Science Daily, April 17, 2007
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Business&article=UPI-1-20070417-22351800-bc-us-cvs.xml
"CVS Accused of Putting Records in Dumpster," AOL Money & Finance, April 18, 2007
URL: http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/cvs-accused-of-putting-records-in/20070417133509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbott, news release, April 17, 2007
URL: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1976
Published by Roselyn James
Roselyn James has been actively pursuing a writing career for five years. Her fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in various journals and online publications. She can be reached at roselynrjames@gmai... View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentGreat article and quite an eye opener! I too bemoan the death of "small time" pharmacies. Back in prehistoric days, when I lived in Canada, there were many small drug stores, and each had its own clientele. In some of them, the pharmacist's personal number was available to customers, and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that someone could call him at home and he would come back to the store after his normal hours to fill out a prescription for his customers, most of whom he knew by sight and first name. You can't get personal service like that from a large "faceless" chain store or pharmacy.
Wow!!! this is a little scary that such information could just end up like this, good article, thanks Dacia
I just switched to CVS from horrid (2 separate) Walgreen's. I miss the Ma and Pa pharmacies and when I moved I lost one I loved. They'd give you a free soda or candybar if your prescription was even a minute late and more importantly take responsibility for their own errors.