A lot of information can be gleaned from your trash and most people don’t give too much thought to what they throw away up to and including their bank statements. Most will think who would go through my trash and in most cases its true they are not actively being targeted to this level.
However this another one of those tactics that if you don’t apply it before you are targeted you’re already too late. Think about stalkers. The victims usually don’t know for at least a little while that they are being stalked (unless they had a prior relationship). The stalker could (and they do) steal the trash and use the info the glean to further their activity. Or if you are a wealthier individual or a C level employee or even just a head of a department at a larger company. You have access to info that is desired by a lot of individuals in the realm of corporate espionage. The info they could glean from your trash could lead to anything from black mail to robbery to in extreme cases murder if its just easier to make you go away to set your project back a bit.
To counter this, a good rule of thumb to follow is that only organic (food or food containers) get thrown in the trash (or recycling). If the packaging from other items is clear they can be thrown away to.
If its paper/card board it either gets shredded and then mixed up with other shreds and thrown out in batches or its burned. (especially important with anything financial or with personal info on it), or you it can be shredded then burned if you are particularly paranoid or you have a high level security concern.
Now when traveling or on the go never throw out anything with personal information and avoid using any trash cans that are in your room/office or location that can be tied to you. Take your trash with you when you leave and if it doesn’t need to be shredded or burned throw it out in a common area trash preferably the dumpster or a trash can at another location. This makes it harder to link any info you may be throwing out specifically to you.
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