Two individuals watching the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City November 22 discovered that shredded documents containing sensitive police information were among the confetti being thrown for the parade.

After picking it up and examining it, they realized it contained numbers and the acronym SSN.  They thought the number was likely a social security number, and decided to gather more of the confetti strips lying around.

They realized that some contained entire phone numbers, addresses, more social security numbers, license plate numbers, and other confidential information. Some contained information regarding police incident reports and police controlled events. But the worst part is that others still held sensitive information about undercover police officers. The logo and the information on the shredded documents made it possible to tie them to the Nassau County Police Department, which polices parts of Long Island.

It was unknown how the strips ended up at the parade, but after being notified of the matter, the Nassau County Police Department stated that they will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing their procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents. Macys said that they used only commercially manufactured multicolor confetti for the parade.

Source: Help Net Security, http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14012