Maryland company to pay fine for allegedly tossing consumer info in trash

A Maryland payment processing company agreed to pay a $20,000 fine to the state attorney general's office to settle allegations it did not properly dispose of customer records and instead tossed them in a Dumpster.

The settlement is with Map LLC, which formerly did business as Mid Atlantic Processing, and company officers Martin A. Taylor and Rony Natanzon.

Maryland Attorney General office's consumer protection division says that when the former Mid Atlantic Processing closed its Owings Mills office in May 2009, it allegedly discarded the customer information -- including Social Security numbers and canceled checks -- without protecting it, for instance, by shredding it.

Police picked 77 boxes of business records out of the trash. However, based on the state's investigation, no personal information was taken. The company and its officers deny any liability, the state says.