US Postal Service Monitors and Records Billions of Mail Pieces
- 11 years ago
Postal workers monitor mail by copying the information on the outside of letters and packages before they get delivered to the recipient when law enforcement officials request them to do so.
The United States Postal Service uses computers to take pictures of every letter that they carry as part of the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, also known as mail covering.
Postal workers monitor 160 billion annual pieces of mail by copying the information on the outside of letters and packages before they get delivered to the recipient when law enforcement officials request them to do so.
Investigators in many criminal cases have used this type of information gathering.
Unlike opening mail or tapping a phone, mail cover surveillance doesn’t require a warrant, or permission from a judge.
The US Postal Service decides if they will cooperate with law enforcement officials, and they will only rarely deny a request.
Mail covers have been used as a law enforcement and spying tactic for over a century, but the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program was started after envelopes containing anthrax were found in 2001.
What do you think? Is this practice by US postal service an invasion of privacy?
The United States Postal Service uses computers to take pictures of every letter that they carry as part of the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, also known as mail covering.
Postal workers monitor 160 billion annual pieces of mail by copying the information on the outside of letters and packages before they get delivered to the recipient when law enforcement officials request them to do so.
Investigators in many criminal cases have used this type of information gathering.
Unlike opening mail or tapping a phone, mail cover surveillance doesn’t require a warrant, or permission from a judge.
The US Postal Service decides if they will cooperate with law enforcement officials, and they will only rarely deny a request.
Mail covers have been used as a law enforcement and spying tactic for over a century, but the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program was started after envelopes containing anthrax were found in 2001.
What do you think? Is this practice by US postal service an invasion of privacy?