14 DAY TRIAL // Students participating at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade were shocked to see that the confetti contained sensitive details of police officers of the Nassau County Police Department.
We often hear about cases in which important documents are found in back alleys, or left behind in the buildings of bankrupt companies. However, it seems there are certain scenarios in which even shredded documents can expose personal information.
According to PIX11, 18-year-old Ethan Finkelstein was enjoying the parade when he noticed that one of the strips of confetti contained a social security number (SSN).
After taking a closer look at the other pieces of paper, he discovered that they were full of confidential information, including phone numbers, incident reports, license plate numbers, financial data, and even the details of undercover officers.
The paper was shredded, but not well enough, allowing anyone at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to see information that could represent a gold mine to identity thieves.
The Nassau County Police Department have stated that they’re currently investigating the incident and they’re reviewing their procedures for disposing sensitive documents.
However, the most interesting thing is that Macy’s representatives claim they use only commercial multicolor confetti, not shredded paper.
It’s a mystery how the pieces of paper containing sensitive information ended up at the parade.