Remove Them Now

The simple act of providing a piece of paper has become a lesson in how to protect personal information.

The cautionary tale involved staff at the Bessborough Hotel and a guest who needed a piece of paper to jot down a note.

The guest, at the front desk, asked for a piece of scrap paper.

The employee handed over a sheet retrieved from a recycling bin.

However, while one side of the paper was blank the other side had all sorts of information about a hotel employee, including a social insurance number.

It seems the employee’s personal information was being faxed and when that job was done, the paper was tossed into the recycle bin when he was done.

“It is a signal, I think, that all of us should be very careful as to how we handle documents with our own information on it,” Andrew Turnbull, the hotel’s general manager, told CBC News. “Absolutely, without question.”

Fortunately, the guest who was given the scrap paper was not interested in misusing the employee’s personal information.

James Haywood, who was faxing out his information, told CBC News he has learned a valuable lesson.

“Obviously human error occurred here and you know I’ve learned a valuable lesson from it,” Haywood said. “Will I take my cover sheets back? For sure. Will I shred my own documents? Yes I will.”