U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement

The New York Times ^ | 3 Jul 2013 | RON NIXON

[mandaladon]

WASHINGTON — Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: A handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home. “Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on the street,” read the card. It included Mr. Pickering’s name, address and the type of mail that needed to be monitored. The word “confidential” was highlighted in green.

“It was a bit of a shock to see it,” said Mr. Pickering, who owns a small bookstore in Buffalo. More than a decade ago, he was a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group labeled eco-terrorists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Postal officials subsequently confirmed they were indeed tracking Mr. Pickering’s mail but told him nothing else.

As the world focuses on the high-tech spying of the National Security Agency, the misplaced card offers a rare glimpse inside the seemingly low-tech but prevalent snooping of the United States Postal Service.

Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, but that is only a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.

[af_vet_rr]

You are confusing and mixing issues. There really are people trying to kill us. The fact that there really are bureaucracies trying to enslave us doesn’t mean we let the terrorists run wild.

The issues blur together when the bureaucracy is using the threat of terrorism to enslave us. This has been happening for over a decade. The only difference is the letter next to the name of the person occupying the White House.

[DManA]

Why do you say that? A guy with an R by his name started this.

The only difference is the letter next to the name of the person occupying the White House.

[newnhdad]

If I remember correctly, the USPS scams all mail anyway for barcodes and there is a complex system that uses photo scans for handwriting recognition. I’m assuming that there now exists technology that can record every piece of mail and potentially save an image of it.

why do I feel like a mobster... being assumed and treated as guilty until proven innocent.

[af_vet_rr]

Why do you say that? A guy with an R by his name started this.

Oh I know it started mostly under Bush (although Clinton deserves a small amount of credit), and I wasn't clear, just trying to make the point that any of us could be considered potential terrorists depending on who is in the WH.

And that threat of terrorism will be used to erode the Constitution over time, since both parties seem happy with that path.