SEATTLE -- One man went dumpster-diving and discovered a company he trusted trashed his personal information in a public dumpster where anyone could have snatched them up.

Steve Gillett of Seattle said Visa Services Northwest threw out the sensitive documents instead of shredding them.

The documents, which ended up in a downtown alley, included papers with Gillett's name, social security number, credit card information and even a copy of his signature.

Gillett's private information, as well as that of dozens of others, had been dumped by the travel services company.

"This firm was throwing away in a public bin more information than my wife knows about me," Gillett said.

Xiaoli Ding, the owner of the company, claims what Gillett found was the result of an isolated incident.

He says he keeps his clients' personal information for year, then destroys the files properly. Then he shreds the sensitive documents and recycles the rest.

"Obviously, we accidentally dumped that particular file in the recycle bin," he said.

Even so, Ding said, the documents are safe in the bin since the business is located on an upper floor of the building where the public doesn't typically visit.

But the trouble is, the papers don't stay there.

Everything in that recycle bin on the upper floor eventually ends up in an alley way nearby; it's brought to another dumpster in a very public place.

"They said they had been doing this for the last ten years," Gillett said.

Some of the best-known businesses, institutions and agencies in America leaked sensitive customer information in 2007. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse tracked more than 200 million records which were compromised by discount department stores, major universities and even the military.

Gillett turned to the state attorney general for help.

In a letter, state officials warned Visa Services Northwest that it is required to destroy customers' personal information it does not plan to retain. Anything short of that is a violation of state law.

Ding said his company has changed its policy to comply.

"We moved from shredding only sensitive information to shredding everything," he said.

Ding also sent an apology letter and the Attorney General's Office now considers the matter closed.

Gillett hasn't seen any suspicious activity on his accounts so far. Several of Ding's clients reportedly had issues with strangers applying for credit under their names, but none of the incidents were proven to be linked to the sensitive documents that were thrown out in the trash.