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He was worried about them digging in my trash, identity theft is a real threat.

In this case Im glad he did, all my trash was tied off in black bags so there was nothing showing that should attract a scrapper, or is it scraper...hmmm.
anyway, the went to far imo.

I do not want my trash bags opened and gone through.

I myself went driving around this morning and scored a fan and an aluminum cot to scrap.
But I didnt, nor would I ever open peoples bags up. My ethic is it needs to be out in the open.

These type guys will get a law passed here where good people cant pick up scrap curbside.

The majority of identity theft happens electronically, generally thousands or millions of IDs at a time. Chances are high that your ID and mine have already been stolen and traded several times.

If you're concerned about ID theft, don't register with social security, don't get a driver's license, don't own a credit card, don't use checks and don't get a passport (for starters!). And yes, that's an impossible scenario for most people. The best most people can do is to minimalize your footprint. Use cash whenever possible, and don't give info of any kind unless absolutely necessary, and even then fake info will often suffice (store loyalty cards and surveys come to mind).

One statistic I read was that less than 2% of ID theft comes from traditional dumpster diving. It's probably less than 1%. It's too much work compared to any other method. Worry more about thieves stealing mail from your mailbox than people skimming useful info from your trash.

It's also very easy to eliminate the minimal threat of anyone digging through your trash: it's called a paper shredder. A level 3 security microcut type or better is recommended. Just think critically about everything you throw away for a couple of weeks, and it will become second nature to shred, incinerate or mangle anything with potential information.

The general law nationwide is that anything curbside is public property for the taking unless it is secured in a locked area or dumpster. That said, some towns and cities have ordinances against dumpster diving and curbside grabs, but enforcement is often very selective and contestable in court.

Only one thing belongs in the trash, and that's trash. Anything of potential value to anyone, citizen or criminal, does not belong there!

Most police departments don't have the resources to follow up on complaints about curbside scavenging, assuming it's even illegal in their district and they actually care.

IF you are worried about dumpster dive id theft, buy a shredder and shred everything. I've been doing that for 25 years.

fb101 wrote:IF you are worried about dumpster dive id theft, buy a shredder and shred everything. I've been doing that for 25 years.

I used to shred stuff AND throw dirty diapers in with it. I had to buy a better shredder once the kids were out of diapers.

shred it, then work it into the compost pile wet. Makes good garden soil!

It's better when you have an old Japanese Bath on site that is wood-burning.

Not much even makes it to my curb (if I had a curb). Paper and non-recyclable cardboard gets burned, steel and aluminum cans go to the scrap yard, plastic, glass, cardboard, and magazines go to the recycling center, newspaper goes to a local farmer who uses it for bedding, and most food scraps get tossed in the woods.

I agree composting is a good way to get rid of sensitive documents. The only concern there is the documents blowing into someone's yard on a windy day, before they've had a chance to decompose. The composting setup I use for this has top so that hasn't been a problem.

It may be possible to put shredded paper back together, but there's no way to restore a document once it's been broken down into hummus.

Looks like I disagree with you all.
I dont want anyone digging in my trash once Ive tied the bags off.
Anything else that is loose or not bagged I dont mind.

Likewise, I will not be opening anyone elses trash.

Maybe if I was starving I might.

Finder wrote:Looks like I disagree with you all.
I dont want anyone digging in my trash once Ive tied the bags off.
Anything else that is loose or not bagged I dont mind.

Likewise, I will not be opening anyone elses trash.

Maybe if I was starving I might.

Unfortunately, you have no control of your trash once you set it to the curb. If you don't want people to have the opportunity to dig in your trash, the only way to stop them is to not put your garbage to the street until you see a garbage truck coming to collect it. I think it should be legal, but I agree it is unethical in many cases.

Sanitation workers look through our trash all the time. Here if anyone lives down a road where there is a creek or run, we have to put our names on each trash bag. They're looking for any hint of meth lab makings. From what I understand when the meth producers are done with their load, they dump the leftovers in the creeks and its suppose to be some toxic stuff. I don't mind these people looking thru my trash because its for a good cause. Anyone else I have a problem with that, unless its loose and not bagged or in a can.

I hope you don't throw away your boxes and wrappers at your house. Use it for packing material, burn it in your fireplace, or do like me and re-use what you can and throw the rest away at work. You don't want to give a crook the upper hand on what might be in your home when you're not!

I never throw out anything that may indicate my hobbies, including brass and powder. lol

I agree with the original poster that I also don't want people opening up my tied up trash bags and going through them. Although I guess I am a hypocrite because I have looked through dumpters behind stores on several occasions looking for metal. But I never actually untied a tied up trash bag.