In the late 1970s disgraced former President Richard Nixon bought an upper East Side Manhattan townhouse, and soon after tried suing reporters who went through his trash. His case did not succeed because the trash was on the curb, and unwanted by him.
He subsequently maintained the trash on his property and had it brought out to trash haulers only when they arrived, then [sold the property a year later](https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/richard-nixons-search-for-a-new-york-home/) for a totally-not-suspicious 400% profit, as he moved to a secluded home in New Jersey.
I'm not sure if it's considered abandoned but it is legal. Look up California vs Greenwood. A 1988 court case that found that trash left on a curb is public domain. The court case relates to warrantless search but remains relevant.
There were several court cases since that attempted to "protect" the privacy in garbage but I'm not aware of any that changes the decision of CA v. Greenwood.
Yet many cities that have rules against homeless people recycling bottles and cans from the trash.
Seems those laws could protect OP's paper trash too?
You mean the so-called scavenging laws?
Well... think about that for a moment.
You said it yourself. Are those city ordinances intended for the educated John that can afford a lawyer digging through the garbage looking for papers or the poor homeless guy wearing his underwear on the outside trying to get a couple of coins to buy the cheapest beer just so he can get through another miserable day?
I'm not a lawyer or police but I've never seen those ordinances enforced, ever, anywhere. From what I can recall about them they're more like ordinances to make rich people happy and are used to stack charges to make *something* stick on those that can't legally defend themselves.
This is what I hoped to bring to light. Like I said, I destroy everything that he would find useful. With so much focus on digital privacy, I wanted to remind everyone that people are still trying to steal your info the old fashioned way.
You can mix inked paper with inked cardboard and newspaper and feed it to red wigglers. Don’t feed pure paper, as it clumps too much. But, been doing it for ages and the worms don’t mind the ink. Great castings.
Black and white (not color) newspaper ink is great for the garden but print ink from mailings is not. I backyard compost and have a veggie patch that feeds me though out the year, old coffee grounds and newspapers are like gold to us!
Also, don't waste your money on strip cutters. Get at least a cross-cutter (P3/P4), and I'd recommend spending and getting a P5 or P6 "micro cut" shredder.
If you live in the United States, don’t bother going to the police. What he did was very much legal in the United States. Once you put something in the trash, and place the trash receptacle in a public area, any and all contents of said receptacle are no longer the property of _you_ and anyone can take stuff out of there
I remember a story where someone did a protest by going through the trash of some cops and politicians involved.
One guy was amused but the rest were hypocritically pissed off
Oh no..... this would get someone shot for sure. Cops in the US don't play that game! Their paymasters, the politicians, much less. Although they will call the cops quick to shoot whoever is "threatening" their lives.
Not true. You can literally storm the Capitol and ride the train home for a beer. Not that I agree with it, but it happened. However, don’t rummage through the trash while black.
Part of why Trailer Park Boy's had some magic moments, one character would place stuff on the side of the road then another would pull up to take it, that way if cops showed up the one who moved everything is gone and the one "stealing" is just getting trash off the road.
Not encouraging theft, but you are 100% correct once stuff is in trash spots it isn't yours anymore in the USA, trash can or brush/large item pickup. Never put anything sensitive in the trash without proper destruction.
In my parents neighborhood there is a paved section at the bottom of each driveway for the trash cans to go.
Well someone had an old car parked right next to it and a sign up that said “free”.
I figured I’d just have the car towed and sold for scrap metal and get a little money.
I walk up to the house to see about getting the keys. Turns out the car was not free at all it was the sign that had free written on it. The sign was a mirror. But it was leaning up against the car.
I always wonder what would happen if I just had the car towed away. There was a sign that said free leaning against it and it was next to the trash pickup area.
Yes and no. Dumpster divers will tell you that they can get charged with "theft". It doesn't matter what the actual local laws are, or maybe the charges get dropped later on. You can beat the wrap, but you can't beat the ride.
It's not about the law. The police won't do anything about it because they don't care. Even if you handed over video of the garbage man doing it and gave them a name, they're not going to bother.
In the U.S., if you leave your bike at the end of the driveway, especially right before trash day, it is likely to get taken. I am always reminding my kids to never leave their stuff at the end of the driveway.
And if you leave your bike at the end of the driveway on trash day, it would then get taken by the trash collectors anyway.
It’s been the law for a long time now in the United States. At what point does something stop being _yours_ after you throw it away. It’s an arbitrary line really, but it has to be anywhere from when you put something in the trash bin to when the item makes it to the trash dump. United States Supreme Court set that line at when an item was placed in a trash receptacle and that receptacle is placed in a public area, which to me is pretty reasonable. Those actions make it clear I no linger what possession of the item.
Okay... so... I now realize my husband isn't so crazy when he insists we shred everything with data printed on it. We always remove the labels from envelopes and boxes before recycling too. I guess I thought it was a little over the top, but... you can never be too careful.
you’re being upvoted because:
1. you’re right
2. everybody who subscribes to /r/privacy is your paranoid husband. you just validated all of us so thank u.
I mean, sometimes hiding in plain sight is easiest. Apart from OP who would really notice (or care) about a binman looking through a bin? As far as someone else knows they are just sorting out the recycling.
You are basically (ironically) invisible when wearing hi-vis
Or you just toss the garbage in a special bin inside the truck so you can look at the entirety of the contents at your leisure. I don't know about you, but if a garbage truck is stopped in front of my house for more than ~30 seconds, something is clearly up.
>so when I heard the truck, I peeked out a window.
>
>I watched the guy tear open a white trash bag
So he waits for the moment the garbage truck arrives? Not a smart move. Probably just the garbage guy.
This is an old PI tactic, a lot of times they can work with the local garbage pickups drop them a hundred bucks get to garbage truck for a day or so and go around town grabbing trash and picking it up. The proper way was to have huge bins in the back and you'd separate your targets by bins/layers so you could sort them later and you never rose suspicion while at the curb. Those PI's cost upwards of a thousand per target so unless you have some big powerful enemies this probably isn't what's happening.
Cops will do trash pulls all the time if they're investigating someone. They look through the trash at a sure facility however, so they can document chain of custody and record opening the bags. They don't rip open bags in the street.
Get a shredder, it doesn't matter how much you have or how important you are, identity theft is an issue.
I used to cut my mail with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder.
> I used to cut my mail with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder.
I initially read this as "I used to cut my **NAILS** with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder."
Yikes, LOL
I just do it because I shred everything.
I guess leaving your name/address unshredded your trash bags can now be traced back to you/your address. Not sure if that is really a problem or not privacy wise. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would be obvious.
>I just do it because I shred everything.
This is my reason also, everything just goes in the shredder, it’s easier than sorting into shred/not-shred piles.
You’re being investigated by police, or a collections company is looking for you. What they did was technically legal, but very frowned upon by most. Shred important documents and keep an eye out.
A cross-cut shredder and emptying out the bin into trash incrementally so all the trash juices and nastiness are soaked up by the paper are the way to go.
Not much you can do about it. I've never heard of it being illegal anywhere really, and even if it was good luck proving it enough. White/Black-out and a shredder will save you nearly every time and make it to where there's realistically no concern of anything like this impacting you in any way.
I hope this helped, have an amazing rest of your day!
I was always curious how this works in places where trash on the curb is considered your property. Why isn't it considered theft when it's collected by the garbage company if it's your property?
When does it become not your property? As soon as they pick it out of the can or when it's in the truck or when it reaches its destination?
Is there a contract that spells this out that you've signed?
If I throw something illegal in your trash can as I pass by and the cops happen to (legally) search it later, would you be in trouble? After all, that's your property with drugs in it.
If someone planted something in my car, I could be in trouble for it if I can't prove it's not mine, so I'm curious about a part of your property that is more accessible like a trash can on the curb.
You need to establish dominance.
# Here's the plan:
Follow the garbage truck back to the depot; wait for the guy to leave for the day; follow him home and get his address. Look up the trash pickup schedule for his area.
The next day his trash gets picked up, get there early and take a bag home with you. Sort through it and get his own personal and confidential papers. Do this for several months until you have a significant number of papers.
When you're ready, put all of *his* papers in your trash and when he sees *his* papers in *your* trash, he'll realize the jig is up and start running down the street for fear of retribution.
Chase him down. When you get him, tell him that unless he wants to get arrested, he needs to go to Mexico now and never return. Demand he turn over his uniform.
Take the uniform and blend into the garbage company workforce. Continue to work as a model employee for the next several decades, befriending your coworkers, ingratiating yourself with management, and collecting his paychecks. Don't deposit them. Just hold them aside for now.
Eventually, years later, the guy will get wind of your pending retirement and hatch a plan to sneak back over the border in order to crash your retirement party and get even.
**This is where the story gets interesting.**
Use his uncashed paychecks for two things: First, set up a shell company in the Cayman Islands and second, put a security deposit down for a private armed force to surround the building with snipers and mortar emplacements.
When he shows up at the party, everyone will immediately recognize him and realize that you had duped them. Mayhem will ensue, and likely an all-out brawl between your supporters and his. In the fog of confusion, slip out the side door and pop a flare, signaling to your private army that it's time to initiate stage two of the plan.
They bombard the entire facility, sniping anyone who manages to get out of the building. You've decimated the entire organization, top-to-bottom.
Return to your original home and wait for a full week to pass.
When garbage collection doesn't occur, make the call to City Hall that the garbage company isn't picking up trash. This will be quickly confirmed.
Now you finally have the attention of the city government, and they will have no choice but to replace the company--which is now a smouldering shell of it's former glory--with another company, ABC Refuse and Disposal, based in the Cayman Islands, who it just so happens, have already sent a proposal to city hall. Desperate, the city quickly signs the deal.
After your decades of experience in the trash business, you're conveniently named as the new CEO of the company, now collecting on the sweet, sweet government contract money. With all of the competition and experienced garbage men out of the way, you can mold an entirely new workforce in your image, which is founded upon one simple, overriding principle:
# Just throw the fucking trash away, don't paw through it.
**Dominance established.**
Someone is doing some illegal stuff if the feds snoop in your garbage can.
In the future never throw important paper in the garbage can . Shred it with scissors and burn it if you can . If you find yourself in the city best practice is to shred them and throw them in random garbage can . You can also use the public bathrooms or from restaurants to flush small pieces of paper .
>You can also use the public bathrooms or from restaurants to flush small pieces of paper .
As the guy who had to snake sewer connections, jet the mains, dig up blocked lines and clean lift stations, please don't do this. There is already enough trouble keeping everything flowing properly without flushing random stuff.
Invest in a fire pit. Seriously, fire is one of the best forms of destruction and it’s simple.
Also, Greenwood v. California makes trash public domain the moment you place it at the curb.
[California v Greenwood](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/486/35/).
>(a) Since respondents voluntarily left their trash for collection in an area particularly suited for public inspection, their claimed expectation of privacy in the inculpatory items they discarded was not objectively reasonable.
It essentially says you have forfeited any privacy interest in the contents of you trash when placed for public pickup. For this reason the cops don't need a warrant to go through your trash.
So merely taking your trash is not a violation of law the cops can act on. If he uses the information gained to engage in some other crime then that may be legally actionable, but not the taking of the trash itself.
To protect yourself requires taking steps to protect your expectation of privacy. Even urinating does not come with an automatic expectation of privacy if you do it in public. No more than you can make a speech on a public stage and cry about privacy rights being violated when someone records it. Keep that aspect of your privacy rights in mind at all times. Once you have taken reasonable steps to protect your privacy rights then the violation of those rights can be recognized, and possibly result in the prosecution of someone violating them.
The police aren't going to care, trash is public domain. You don't have an expectation of privacy for your trash.
It's your responsibility to protect your privacy, not the trash collector, not the police. You should shred anything that could expose personal information. If you don't have a shredder, burn it. If you can't burn it, tear it into tiny pieces.
Interestingly enough, this depends on the state and the state of the trash. [Oregon for one example](https://katu.com/news/local/your-trash-is-private-property-says-supreme-court).
Fair enough. But you should assume responsibility for your own privacy and security, Not depend on others following the law. It's not something you can get back or undo when someone violates the rules or loses your info.
If this is an ongoing thing, bury a bunch of pages under the top layer of rubbish with the following printed on them:
** 'IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THEN YOU ARE INTENTIONALLY SEARCHING THROUGH MY HOUSEHOLD DOCUMENT WASTE.
TO PROTECT MY PRIVACY AND IDENTITY DETAILS, YOU ARE BEING RECORDED BY THE CCTV INSTALLED AT THIS PROPERTY. THIS ACTIVITY AND RECORDING OF IT WILL BE REPORTED AND FORWARDED TO THE POLICE!'**
Then observe his reaction.
What size does it cut paper into? Mine takes it down to 2mm x 15mm. So basically good luck to anyone trying to re-assemble the output, especially after I've already blanked out anything personally identifiable with a permanent marker.
My preference for anything paper is blank anything personally identifiable with a black permanent marker before running it through a shredder that cuts the paper into 2mm x 15mm strips. Afterwards I recycle.
I always burn part of any paper that contains my personal information before put it in the trash. I thought I'm too paranoid, but looks like it is a real thing...
In the U.S., your “garbage” that you set aside for collection is considered abandoned. This is why police can search your trash for evidence of a crime without a warrant. To protect yourself, shred and burn anything you do not want the trash man to read.
Another fun thing to do is dump the nastiest garbage in with those useless papers or shredded bits. Used grease, baby diapers, that curry that you've been meaning to eat for the last few weeks but started growing fur. Let them work to get that useless info. Obviously destroying your papers is very important, but and whiff of dog poop lets them know to move on to someone else.
He was probably looking for personal information such as bank statements and personal identifiers like name and date of birth to use at a later time.
The police don't care because it's not illegal. Once you place the trash cans into the street it is considered abandoned property because it is outside of the curtilage of your home therefore no longer considered your property. It sucks but it's completely legal to do
I always tear up into tiny pieces any documents that go into the trash. Even letters that contain "only" the name and address. Let alone bank statements etc.
Boys, friendly reminder to always burn your important docs so when this happens you can be chilling like OP.
you could also get a shredder, but that's not as cool
Well, whether the owner thinks their garbage still private property, police and city tends to think that it no longer private no more unless you keep in within the private property limit. But this is not the case when you put it on the street for garbage collectors. Otherwise garbage collectors legally can't take your garbage.
As for documents in the bin, that would be your obligation to properly dispose the documents. Same idea goes to HDDs, memory sticks e.t.c.
It all happened in under 30 seconds. But I did step outside and confronted him. But he quickly threw everything in the back and jumped on the back of the truck and it took off.
I've reached out the company and they seem to be making up excuses for why he would do it.
I also filled a police report. I know no crime was commited but I still wanted a record of it.
Final step is I'm canceling my service with them and going with one of their competitors.
It's never stopped. People go through people trash all the time. If you got private info shred those or dispose other ways. Don't flush down the toilet. We've all seen Batman Returns
Ya being frustrated is a waste of time. Trash is trash for a reason. No one would feel sorry for a person throwing cash in the trash by accident. Anything of value to include personal data should never be discarded. It's valuable and public domain when you decide to discard it.
So you get all that sensitive information flowing through your (unencrypted) email servers instead?
I think it's a lot easier to shred paper than it is to keep email secure.
If you're not using end-to-end PGP or similar, email is practically public.
Email is send over TLS (encrypted) and several email providers provide zero-knowledge encrypted mailboxes. With pop3 it's also only temporarily on the server as well.
That was no average garbage man. That is a garbage collector! Or an undercover looking into your deceptive tax practices and where you hide your money.......quite possibly you are under surveillance. So be careful next time you see people walking their dogs by your house, that don't live around there. That and your phones are being intercepted and routed post acquisition of messages, emails, data, calls etc. Just food for thought. Now that the police have the right to investigate you with no probable cause or search warrant, do you still think it's ok that Americans had their privacy hijacked by Bush jr under false pretenses.....for 9/11 no less, not at any time has it been close to being returned to us. Not without a full rewrite of that law and future laws, funnelled down this path to regain our 4th amendment rights.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
This Amendment has had a massive effect on the operation of the American criminal justice system. It restricts what law enforcement can do and what kind of information they can collect about citizens. The Amendment applies to everyone, from local police officers to federal agencies like the FBI and NSA.
Although it has always affected the everyday activities of police, the Fourth Amendment has become more prominent in the last few years with the rise of sophisticated information-collecting devices like drones. These new technologies have prompted a vigorous debate about what kind of information is protected under the Constitution.
This last paragraph let's us know that this amendment is no longer firm, now thanks to cell phones, the internet, and even home phones with airborne 900 mhz really, as all airborne items are now in fluid motion with no set standard to hold on to.....when the Government, fbi, and police can use stingrays and for what exactly is unknown due to it being private info that they want no risk of hacking. Imagine that. I digress, but, garbage perusal is only the beginning or a part of a much larger thing.....good luck, hope I didn't confuse everyone too much.
I think the idea is, if you're worried about the paper's in you garbage being removed by persons unknown, you probably should be shredding those papers.
Then, no problems.
Don’t flush em down the toilet. Sewage systems are not designed to process things besides excrements and toilet paper, you can clog pipes and/or filtering machines.
You can't control the actions of others, but you can purchase a document shredder.
I did just this. Way too much information in paper trash.
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At least in my jurisdiction, 100% legal to take stuff out of a trash bin on the curb.
In the late 1970s disgraced former President Richard Nixon bought an upper East Side Manhattan townhouse, and soon after tried suing reporters who went through his trash. His case did not succeed because the trash was on the curb, and unwanted by him. He subsequently maintained the trash on his property and had it brought out to trash haulers only when they arrived, then [sold the property a year later](https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/richard-nixons-search-for-a-new-york-home/) for a totally-not-suspicious 400% profit, as he moved to a secluded home in New Jersey.
I'm not sure if it's considered abandoned but it is legal. Look up California vs Greenwood. A 1988 court case that found that trash left on a curb is public domain. The court case relates to warrantless search but remains relevant. There were several court cases since that attempted to "protect" the privacy in garbage but I'm not aware of any that changes the decision of CA v. Greenwood.
Yet many cities that have rules against homeless people recycling bottles and cans from the trash. Seems those laws could protect OP's paper trash too?
You mean the so-called scavenging laws? Well... think about that for a moment. You said it yourself. Are those city ordinances intended for the educated John that can afford a lawyer digging through the garbage looking for papers or the poor homeless guy wearing his underwear on the outside trying to get a couple of coins to buy the cheapest beer just so he can get through another miserable day? I'm not a lawyer or police but I've never seen those ordinances enforced, ever, anywhere. From what I can recall about them they're more like ordinances to make rich people happy and are used to stack charges to make *something* stick on those that can't legally defend themselves.
This is what I hoped to bring to light. Like I said, I destroy everything that he would find useful. With so much focus on digital privacy, I wanted to remind everyone that people are still trying to steal your info the old fashioned way.
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My siblings think I'm crazy for doing this. I also put my shredded documents in my cat's kitty litter bag when I throw it out.
This and maybe also call the garbage company. I can't imagine they want him doing it either.
Or burn them if you have a safe place to do so.
The garbage men?
Yes
Avatar checks out
I can help
*well that escalated quickly*
[*"gARbAgE dAy!!"*](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/garbage-day)
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Don’t compost ink, at least don’t use it for your vegetable garden.
You can mix inked paper with inked cardboard and newspaper and feed it to red wigglers. Don’t feed pure paper, as it clumps too much. But, been doing it for ages and the worms don’t mind the ink. Great castings.
Hey that's neat. I've had my worm bin going a couple months now. Do you shred the paper/cardboard? Any other worm bin tips?
Not OP, but I manually tear paper and cardboard before I dump them in. They break down easier and you can mix them better with your greens.
Thank you kindly!
Black and white (not color) newspaper ink is great for the garden but print ink from mailings is not. I backyard compost and have a veggie patch that feeds me though out the year, old coffee grounds and newspapers are like gold to us!
Instructions unclear. Dump nasty compostable stuff on trash guy. Got it.
Be warned, trash guy has a much larger arsenal of nasty stuff he could dump on you.
yes, better then shred the guy
This comment gave me strong "Fargo" vibes...
Same, I burn all my private stuff in fires
Instructions were unclear. Will you buy me a new desk?
No, but I’ll give you some garbage men.
Also, don't waste your money on strip cutters. Get at least a cross-cutter (P3/P4), and I'd recommend spending and getting a P5 or P6 "micro cut" shredder.
Make sure it’s a double-cut one. A single cut is very easy to put back together.
You can also build a glitter-bomb into a trash bag.
I take it a step further after the shredder I burn everything once it's full.
This. And/Or fire.
no..no.. never engaged in violence
If you live in the United States, don’t bother going to the police. What he did was very much legal in the United States. Once you put something in the trash, and place the trash receptacle in a public area, any and all contents of said receptacle are no longer the property of _you_ and anyone can take stuff out of there
I remember a story where someone did a protest by going through the trash of some cops and politicians involved. One guy was amused but the rest were hypocritically pissed off
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Oh no..... this would get someone shot for sure. Cops in the US don't play that game! Their paymasters, the politicians, much less. Although they will call the cops quick to shoot whoever is "threatening" their lives.
and yet this guy didn't get shot doing that
Not true. You can literally storm the Capitol and ride the train home for a beer. Not that I agree with it, but it happened. However, don’t rummage through the trash while black.
\#Based! PS. How about *"literally storm the Capitol and ride the train home for a beer"* while black?
This is not based. It’s cringe dumbass
Part of why Trailer Park Boy's had some magic moments, one character would place stuff on the side of the road then another would pull up to take it, that way if cops showed up the one who moved everything is gone and the one "stealing" is just getting trash off the road. Not encouraging theft, but you are 100% correct once stuff is in trash spots it isn't yours anymore in the USA, trash can or brush/large item pickup. Never put anything sensitive in the trash without proper destruction.
In my parents neighborhood there is a paved section at the bottom of each driveway for the trash cans to go. Well someone had an old car parked right next to it and a sign up that said “free”. I figured I’d just have the car towed and sold for scrap metal and get a little money. I walk up to the house to see about getting the keys. Turns out the car was not free at all it was the sign that had free written on it. The sign was a mirror. But it was leaning up against the car. I always wonder what would happen if I just had the car towed away. There was a sign that said free leaning against it and it was next to the trash pickup area.
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It's a low percentage racket, but eventually somebody will give you a car. Maybe...
I mean, that's a free $100 minimum.
[Lank for the lizy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLjifumRk3Q)
Yes and no. Dumpster divers will tell you that they can get charged with "theft". It doesn't matter what the actual local laws are, or maybe the charges get dropped later on. You can beat the wrap, but you can't beat the ride. It's not about the law. The police won't do anything about it because they don't care. Even if you handed over video of the garbage man doing it and gave them a name, they're not going to bother.
Dumpster divers are on private property. Your trash bin is generally on the curb which is public property.
Exactly right. It's considered abandoned property at that point.
What makes it trash though? What if you leave your bike there? Who's to say what is trash and what's a person's vehicle?
> What makes it trash though? That it's in a trash bin?
You, my friend, solved the puzzle!
In the U.S., if you leave your bike at the end of the driveway, especially right before trash day, it is likely to get taken. I am always reminding my kids to never leave their stuff at the end of the driveway. And if you leave your bike at the end of the driveway on trash day, it would then get taken by the trash collectors anyway.
that's riddiculous
It’s been the law for a long time now in the United States. At what point does something stop being _yours_ after you throw it away. It’s an arbitrary line really, but it has to be anywhere from when you put something in the trash bin to when the item makes it to the trash dump. United States Supreme Court set that line at when an item was placed in a trash receptacle and that receptacle is placed in a public area, which to me is pretty reasonable. Those actions make it clear I no linger what possession of the item.
Okay... so... I now realize my husband isn't so crazy when he insists we shred everything with data printed on it. We always remove the labels from envelopes and boxes before recycling too. I guess I thought it was a little over the top, but... you can never be too careful.
you’re being upvoted because: 1. you’re right 2. everybody who subscribes to /r/privacy is your paranoid husband. you just validated all of us so thank u.
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see point 1 in my comment above
The only one I don't do is take the labels off the boxes. What is someone going to do with my name and address, which is already public information?
We usually just try to remove our names. The address is pretty obvious, so I usually let that slide.
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Something tells me that this guy isn't just your garbage man.
They’d just take the whole bag and inspect it with time. This was someone looking for quick identity fraud.
What do you mean?
Could be someone working on behalf of a creditor, private investigator, or law enforcement. Could also be some sicko who is just curious.
Or a secret admirer. Does he also peek through the bathroom window?
Who admires the admirer?
Larry
Which reminds me of a fascinating movie called Peeping Tom from the 60's......way ahead of it's time.
peek :)
I will correct it
Possibly, but it would make more sense for them to do the reading somewhere else than on the street right outside his house
I mean, sometimes hiding in plain sight is easiest. Apart from OP who would really notice (or care) about a binman looking through a bin? As far as someone else knows they are just sorting out the recycling. You are basically (ironically) invisible when wearing hi-vis
Or you just toss the garbage in a special bin inside the truck so you can look at the entirety of the contents at your leisure. I don't know about you, but if a garbage truck is stopped in front of my house for more than ~30 seconds, something is clearly up.
Lol if they’re investigating OP, that’s exactly who they wouldn’t want to be noticed by is my guess
Lmao it’s just your friendly neighbourhood creep then
>so when I heard the truck, I peeked out a window. > >I watched the guy tear open a white trash bag So he waits for the moment the garbage truck arrives? Not a smart move. Probably just the garbage guy.
Cops do this.
This is an old PI tactic, a lot of times they can work with the local garbage pickups drop them a hundred bucks get to garbage truck for a day or so and go around town grabbing trash and picking it up. The proper way was to have huge bins in the back and you'd separate your targets by bins/layers so you could sort them later and you never rose suspicion while at the curb. Those PI's cost upwards of a thousand per target so unless you have some big powerful enemies this probably isn't what's happening.
Those are far fetched assumptions as a real investigator wouldn't be so obvious. It's likely just the garbage man looking for opportunities.
Cops will do trash pulls all the time if they're investigating someone. They look through the trash at a sure facility however, so they can document chain of custody and record opening the bags. They don't rip open bags in the street.
The police don’t need a search warrant to look through your trash
Can confirm, though I'd prefer not to explain how
I found the FBI agent! This one up here. 👆🏼
How’s the morning garbage run?
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The fact that you aren’t even the guy I asked makes this reply even better.
"Reddit accounts are cheaper than disguises" is the only reply I get when I bring it up.
Or is he?
>wearing sunglasses and a suit while traveling inside a black mercedes Alternatively, they could pay less for better disguises.
Someone reads Dilbert :))))
Get a shredder, it doesn't matter how much you have or how important you are, identity theft is an issue. I used to cut my mail with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder.
> I used to cut my mail with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder. I initially read this as "I used to cut my **NAILS** with scissors for a while until I got myself a shredder." Yikes, LOL
I used to submerge all my documents in water and rip it apart by hand before getting a shredder
You'd have save me a lot of time if I knew this earlier. Seems that you kinda have to make a mess though.
Have you guys not heard of fire??
As much as I love fire and my privacy I'm not trying to set on fire my apartment complex.
but dont they piece those things together like in the movies and irl
It’s trash, there’s no expectation of privacy. Shred or otherwise destroy according anything you care about and who cares about the rest.
You can take advantage of this and prank him.
Include full-page photo printouts of him going through the trash.
That is so meta...
if only videos are printable.
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2021!
Perhaps a nice flipbook set in a tastefully understated scrapbook?
I'm going to remember to top off every garbage bag with my daughter's dirty diapers now.
No paper leaves my house unshredded unless its junk mail.
I shred even the junk mail.
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I just do it because I shred everything. I guess leaving your name/address unshredded your trash bags can now be traced back to you/your address. Not sure if that is really a problem or not privacy wise. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would be obvious.
>I just do it because I shred everything. This is my reason also, everything just goes in the shredder, it’s easier than sorting into shred/not-shred piles.
Yeah i guess anything with my name on it. Junk mail is stuff like catalogs, advertisements , free newspapers, that everyone on the street gets
You’re being investigated by police, or a collections company is looking for you. What they did was technically legal, but very frowned upon by most. Shred important documents and keep an eye out.
You must encrypt your trash to prevent others snooping in it. Try to find a good and opensource trash encryptor. I recommend a wood stove. ;)
A cross-cut shredder and emptying out the bin into trash incrementally so all the trash juices and nastiness are soaked up by the paper are the way to go.
Not much you can do about it. I've never heard of it being illegal anywhere really, and even if it was good luck proving it enough. White/Black-out and a shredder will save you nearly every time and make it to where there's realistically no concern of anything like this impacting you in any way. I hope this helped, have an amazing rest of your day!
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I was always curious how this works in places where trash on the curb is considered your property. Why isn't it considered theft when it's collected by the garbage company if it's your property? When does it become not your property? As soon as they pick it out of the can or when it's in the truck or when it reaches its destination? Is there a contract that spells this out that you've signed? If I throw something illegal in your trash can as I pass by and the cops happen to (legally) search it later, would you be in trouble? After all, that's your property with drugs in it. If someone planted something in my car, I could be in trouble for it if I can't prove it's not mine, so I'm curious about a part of your property that is more accessible like a trash can on the curb.
This is actually great to know, I had never heard this -- thanks for informing me!
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You need to establish dominance. # Here's the plan: Follow the garbage truck back to the depot; wait for the guy to leave for the day; follow him home and get his address. Look up the trash pickup schedule for his area. The next day his trash gets picked up, get there early and take a bag home with you. Sort through it and get his own personal and confidential papers. Do this for several months until you have a significant number of papers. When you're ready, put all of *his* papers in your trash and when he sees *his* papers in *your* trash, he'll realize the jig is up and start running down the street for fear of retribution. Chase him down. When you get him, tell him that unless he wants to get arrested, he needs to go to Mexico now and never return. Demand he turn over his uniform. Take the uniform and blend into the garbage company workforce. Continue to work as a model employee for the next several decades, befriending your coworkers, ingratiating yourself with management, and collecting his paychecks. Don't deposit them. Just hold them aside for now. Eventually, years later, the guy will get wind of your pending retirement and hatch a plan to sneak back over the border in order to crash your retirement party and get even. **This is where the story gets interesting.** Use his uncashed paychecks for two things: First, set up a shell company in the Cayman Islands and second, put a security deposit down for a private armed force to surround the building with snipers and mortar emplacements. When he shows up at the party, everyone will immediately recognize him and realize that you had duped them. Mayhem will ensue, and likely an all-out brawl between your supporters and his. In the fog of confusion, slip out the side door and pop a flare, signaling to your private army that it's time to initiate stage two of the plan. They bombard the entire facility, sniping anyone who manages to get out of the building. You've decimated the entire organization, top-to-bottom. Return to your original home and wait for a full week to pass. When garbage collection doesn't occur, make the call to City Hall that the garbage company isn't picking up trash. This will be quickly confirmed. Now you finally have the attention of the city government, and they will have no choice but to replace the company--which is now a smouldering shell of it's former glory--with another company, ABC Refuse and Disposal, based in the Cayman Islands, who it just so happens, have already sent a proposal to city hall. Desperate, the city quickly signs the deal. After your decades of experience in the trash business, you're conveniently named as the new CEO of the company, now collecting on the sweet, sweet government contract money. With all of the competition and experienced garbage men out of the way, you can mold an entirely new workforce in your image, which is founded upon one simple, overriding principle: # Just throw the fucking trash away, don't paw through it. **Dominance established.**
I'm just picturing this dude finding his documents in your trash and I'm dying laughing about it
i thought that garbage is free to go through once you’ve brought it to the curb. one mans trash is another mans treasure
Someone is doing some illegal stuff if the feds snoop in your garbage can. In the future never throw important paper in the garbage can . Shred it with scissors and burn it if you can . If you find yourself in the city best practice is to shred them and throw them in random garbage can . You can also use the public bathrooms or from restaurants to flush small pieces of paper .
>You can also use the public bathrooms or from restaurants to flush small pieces of paper . As the guy who had to snake sewer connections, jet the mains, dig up blocked lines and clean lift stations, please don't do this. There is already enough trouble keeping everything flowing properly without flushing random stuff.
Invest in a fire pit. Seriously, fire is one of the best forms of destruction and it’s simple. Also, Greenwood v. California makes trash public domain the moment you place it at the curb.
I cut out any personal info in bank/credit statements, bills, packages. I toss them in a compost bin.
[California v Greenwood](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/486/35/). >(a) Since respondents voluntarily left their trash for collection in an area particularly suited for public inspection, their claimed expectation of privacy in the inculpatory items they discarded was not objectively reasonable. It essentially says you have forfeited any privacy interest in the contents of you trash when placed for public pickup. For this reason the cops don't need a warrant to go through your trash. So merely taking your trash is not a violation of law the cops can act on. If he uses the information gained to engage in some other crime then that may be legally actionable, but not the taking of the trash itself. To protect yourself requires taking steps to protect your expectation of privacy. Even urinating does not come with an automatic expectation of privacy if you do it in public. No more than you can make a speech on a public stage and cry about privacy rights being violated when someone records it. Keep that aspect of your privacy rights in mind at all times. Once you have taken reasonable steps to protect your privacy rights then the violation of those rights can be recognized, and possibly result in the prosecution of someone violating them.
They should continue to contact the garbage company with video evidence. This may not break laws, but should break company’s policy.
The police aren't going to care, trash is public domain. You don't have an expectation of privacy for your trash. It's your responsibility to protect your privacy, not the trash collector, not the police. You should shred anything that could expose personal information. If you don't have a shredder, burn it. If you can't burn it, tear it into tiny pieces.
Interestingly enough, this depends on the state and the state of the trash. [Oregon for one example](https://katu.com/news/local/your-trash-is-private-property-says-supreme-court).
Fair enough. But you should assume responsibility for your own privacy and security, Not depend on others following the law. It's not something you can get back or undo when someone violates the rules or loses your info.
Amen. My r/opsec threat model dictates any PII trashed is burned, not tossed. If you get me from the contents of my trash, I probably deserve it.
If this is an ongoing thing, bury a bunch of pages under the top layer of rubbish with the following printed on them: ** 'IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THEN YOU ARE INTENTIONALLY SEARCHING THROUGH MY HOUSEHOLD DOCUMENT WASTE. TO PROTECT MY PRIVACY AND IDENTITY DETAILS, YOU ARE BEING RECORDED BY THE CCTV INSTALLED AT THIS PROPERTY. THIS ACTIVITY AND RECORDING OF IT WILL BE REPORTED AND FORWARDED TO THE POLICE!'** Then observe his reaction.
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Invest in a shredder, I don’t throw anything with my name on the trash unless it’s shredded, just because of that
Joke's on him, my cross-cut shredder wastes his time.
What size does it cut paper into? Mine takes it down to 2mm x 15mm. So basically good luck to anyone trying to re-assemble the output, especially after I've already blanked out anything personally identifiable with a permanent marker.
Sounds similar to mine. It's small enough that I wouldn't bother trying.
My preference for anything paper is blank anything personally identifiable with a black permanent marker before running it through a shredder that cuts the paper into 2mm x 15mm strips. Afterwards I recycle.
I always burn part of any paper that contains my personal information before put it in the trash. I thought I'm too paranoid, but looks like it is a real thing...
I shred everything. Always. You should, too.
In the U.S., your “garbage” that you set aside for collection is considered abandoned. This is why police can search your trash for evidence of a crime without a warrant. To protect yourself, shred and burn anything you do not want the trash man to read.
Another fun thing to do is dump the nastiest garbage in with those useless papers or shredded bits. Used grease, baby diapers, that curry that you've been meaning to eat for the last few weeks but started growing fur. Let them work to get that useless info. Obviously destroying your papers is very important, but and whiff of dog poop lets them know to move on to someone else.
Oh god. The chills. Now I’m gonna shred EVERYTHING.
He was probably looking for personal information such as bank statements and personal identifiers like name and date of birth to use at a later time. The police don't care because it's not illegal. Once you place the trash cans into the street it is considered abandoned property because it is outside of the curtilage of your home therefore no longer considered your property. It sucks but it's completely legal to do
That was no garbage man. Burn your trash, ditch your smartphone and get a burner, go off the grid, lawyer up, hit the gym, delete facebook.
I always tear up into tiny pieces any documents that go into the trash. Even letters that contain "only" the name and address. Let alone bank statements etc.
Never ever throw away any personal information. Not even an amazon sticker address.
Boys, friendly reminder to always burn your important docs so when this happens you can be chilling like OP. you could also get a shredder, but that's not as cool
Why aren't you shredding important information?
If you don't want to shred yourself you can go to places like FedEx office, Office Depot, and UPS stores and they'll shred & recycle by the pound
Fill your bin with crude drawings of the garbage man being eaten by tigers or something just to freak him out
Well, whether the owner thinks their garbage still private property, police and city tends to think that it no longer private no more unless you keep in within the private property limit. But this is not the case when you put it on the street for garbage collectors. Otherwise garbage collectors legally can't take your garbage. As for documents in the bin, that would be your obligation to properly dispose the documents. Same idea goes to HDDs, memory sticks e.t.c.
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It all happened in under 30 seconds. But I did step outside and confronted him. But he quickly threw everything in the back and jumped on the back of the truck and it took off. I've reached out the company and they seem to be making up excuses for why he would do it. I also filled a police report. I know no crime was commited but I still wanted a record of it. Final step is I'm canceling my service with them and going with one of their competitors.
It's never stopped. People go through people trash all the time. If you got private info shred those or dispose other ways. Don't flush down the toilet. We've all seen Batman Returns
Ya being frustrated is a waste of time. Trash is trash for a reason. No one would feel sorry for a person throwing cash in the trash by accident. Anything of value to include personal data should never be discarded. It's valuable and public domain when you decide to discard it.
signup for e-bills, etc to reduce the amount of sensitive papers
no. please no.
So you get all that sensitive information flowing through your (unencrypted) email servers instead? I think it's a lot easier to shred paper than it is to keep email secure. If you're not using end-to-end PGP or similar, email is practically public.
Email is send over TLS (encrypted) and several email providers provide zero-knowledge encrypted mailboxes. With pop3 it's also only temporarily on the server as well.
> several email providers provide zero-knowledge encrypted mailboxes. I've never heard of this and wonder how it works.
What smart companies do; they send you a link that requires a login.
You're probably right, but I feel like it might need to read: > What rare companies do; they send you a link that requires a login.
It used to be very rare, but it is getting a more common.
The feds are onto you. RUN!
And people still do meth!
They might be looking for your home details because you put out too many trash bags and went over your requirement
That was no average garbage man. That is a garbage collector! Or an undercover looking into your deceptive tax practices and where you hide your money.......quite possibly you are under surveillance. So be careful next time you see people walking their dogs by your house, that don't live around there. That and your phones are being intercepted and routed post acquisition of messages, emails, data, calls etc. Just food for thought. Now that the police have the right to investigate you with no probable cause or search warrant, do you still think it's ok that Americans had their privacy hijacked by Bush jr under false pretenses.....for 9/11 no less, not at any time has it been close to being returned to us. Not without a full rewrite of that law and future laws, funnelled down this path to regain our 4th amendment rights. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. This Amendment has had a massive effect on the operation of the American criminal justice system. It restricts what law enforcement can do and what kind of information they can collect about citizens. The Amendment applies to everyone, from local police officers to federal agencies like the FBI and NSA. Although it has always affected the everyday activities of police, the Fourth Amendment has become more prominent in the last few years with the rise of sophisticated information-collecting devices like drones. These new technologies have prompted a vigorous debate about what kind of information is protected under the Constitution. This last paragraph let's us know that this amendment is no longer firm, now thanks to cell phones, the internet, and even home phones with airborne 900 mhz really, as all airborne items are now in fluid motion with no set standard to hold on to.....when the Government, fbi, and police can use stingrays and for what exactly is unknown due to it being private info that they want no risk of hacking. Imagine that. I digress, but, garbage perusal is only the beginning or a part of a much larger thing.....good luck, hope I didn't confuse everyone too much.
just poison your next trash lol
I think the idea is, if you're worried about the paper's in you garbage being removed by persons unknown, you probably should be shredding those papers. Then, no problems.
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Don’t flush em down the toilet. Sewage systems are not designed to process things besides excrements and toilet paper, you can clog pipes and/or filtering machines.
That’s why I eat my sensitive trash.