Personal Medical Records Found in Alamo Storage Unit
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Alamo – A local storage company wants guidance after discovering hundreds of medical records containing personal information.
Alamo Stock and Lock employee Lance Givilancz said part of his job is clearing out storage unit whose owners are more than three months delinquent on their storage fees.
He said the company then assumes responsibility for the items inside the units.
Two weeks ago, Givilancz said he opened a storage unit and discovered the sensitive documents.
“When it was opened up, I wasn’t sure what it was at the time. So, I pulled one file out thinking maybe it was a tax file or something like that. I pulled out the file, opened it up immediately and saw medical record number one, Social Security number, name…,” he said.
A former victim of identity theft, Givilancz said he knew he had to be careful about the way he handled the information.
“The minute I realized what they were, I immediately told my employee, “Step out. Let’s close these doors.’ What we did was we contacted the Attorney General’s Office. They sent us to Medical Boards. We contacted them both. ‘If you guys do happen to want to clear that unit you’re going to have to shred them or burn them,’” he said.
Givilancz said Jesus Flores is the person who rented the storage unit. The company contacted him to properly dispose of the sensitive information.
Givilancz claimed the two sides originally couldn’t agree who was responsible for disposing of the documents.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS called Flores who said he became delinquent on his payments because he fell on hard times.
“I’ve never abandoned those reports. I know they are there. Things happened with my company. I had to shut it down. So now I just need to pay it off and get my reports back. That’s about it,” he said.
Both sides said they plan on working toward a payment agreement so the sensitive documents can be delivered to the rightful owner and be disposed of correctly.
Count on CHANNEL 5 NEW to provide the latest in this case.
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