Report: Shuttered Novato Design Firm Exposed Former Employees to ID Theft

A Novato design firm that shuttered earlier this year left records containing sensitive personal information in a nearby dumpster, the Marin Independent Journal reports.

Academy Studios created museum exhibits at its 40,000-square-foot facility for a client  list that included the Smithsonian and the Academy of Sciences before its April closure.

West Auctions, a company responsible for liquidizing the company's assets, left tax forms containing Social Security numbers in an unlocked cabinet, the IJ reports. The material was found in the dumpster by a woman who went to the company's former headquarters looking for furnishings for her Petaluma non-profit.

West Auctions apologized for the breach, according the IJ report. 

West Auctions Project Manager Marissa Bentivoglio to the IJ: "It is our responsibility. We are sorry it happened."