A group of Tufts University students enjoying the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last Thursday noticed something unsettling about the confetti being tossed around. Instead of being made from blank coloured paper, it had bits of confidential information on it like licence plate numbers, phone numbers and addresses, made from sensitive documents from the Nassau County Police Department.
How exactly that happened is still unknown. Macy’s claims it only uses commercially manufactured confetti, not recycled shredded paper. And equally troubling for the police department is that its procedures for destroying and disposing of sensitive documents might not be as confidential as they had thought. So here’s to hoping those commercial services aren’t re-selling the mountains of shredded paper they’re producing. Or, if they are, here’s to the world’s greatest criminal treasure hunt since Cannonball Run II. [United Press International via BoingBoing]
Image: Jason DeCrow/Associated Press