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

NY Times ^ | 7-3-2013 | RON NIXON

[Citizen Zed]

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 with his wife 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.

[Citizen Zed]

I missed this one last year.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Every agency of government has been politicized by the current administration.

[jsanders2001]

My mail has been open a time or two the last year. I imagine most of the more vocal of the FR’pers’ mail is from time to time. I’m sure they must’ve been pretty bored...lol

[Gaffer]

Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, 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.

You can safely bet that if the 'outside' data triggers against some keyword/address list, the entire CONTENTS are photographed too.

[EBH]

I am sure anyone listed as part of the DHS ‘watch list’ is being monitored.

Tea Party
Catholic
War Veteran
Etc.

There is truly only one way to ‘fight’ this battle with the government or that small percentage of “see something say something” propaganda...

And that is to keep speaking out and speaking your mind. The more people they intimidate into silence or into “smokey backyrooms” the more embolden they become. To speak up, speak out, speak your mind en masse in our free country is the only way we can continue to secure our Right to do so.

They are successfully taking over the language of our lives with their political correctness theology. Redskins, Sterling, cake bakers, photographers, etc. all have been subjugated in the courts for their words and/or political donations.

If you are posting on FR, I’d bet my bottom dollar we are all being ‘watched’ online and in real life.

[Zeppo]

The KGB and the Stasi only dreamed of having the capability of performing surveillance on the people at the mass scale now routinely done by the US Gov.

But it says “Liberty” on our coins, so it must be true, right?

[lepton]

ELF *is* a terrorist group. ...even if not so active now.

They burned down a number of businesses, and are linked to some murders.

[pas]

The NY Times only cared about this because he was with E L F.

[BobL]

If Rand Paul wasn’t spending all his time trying to figure out how to legalize Aliens, give voting rights to felons, and stop Republicans from implementing voter ID, he could run with this one.

...but he seems preoccupied these days.

[Crazieman]

The images are saved for 30 days. Its supposed to be for high speed processing.

/postal clerk.

[knarf]

Every time my ‘puter acts up, I always suspect FBI surveilance

[Tupelo]

“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.”

EARTH LIBERATION FRONT or ELF is an ecco-terrorist group Since Pickering was/is a spokesman for a known terrorist group, I would expect his mail among other things to be monitored.

[Citizen Zed]

Which Dem was it that said the Tea Party terrorizes? I wonder if the NSA has read IRS snail mails to/from Tea Party groups.

[Jack Hydrazine]

From what I know the postal service makes a copy of the front and back of every piece of mail that comes through their distribution centers.

[tired&retired]

No wonder the Post Office loses so much money!!!

Wonder if they do the same with their own emails?

[WorkingClassFilth]

I'm sure they (the gubmint) are trampling on everyone’s privacy these days at the post office. However, the ELF scum are extremely dangerous and their radicalism needs to be monitored by the FBI if nothing else. What really surprises me is that he is being monitored at all; I thought lefties of a feather . . .

[Flick Lives]

Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, 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.

...and yet the IRS can't keep email from its own director.

[Gaffer]

At least that’s what the USPS says. The IRS says a bunch of stuff, too. The NSA ‘sometimes’ says things.

If it ever got into electronic form, the NSA will have it.

[Excellence]

I’ve had packages carefully pried open.

[Grampa Dave]

Bingo: “EARTH LIBERATION FRONT or ELF is an ecco-terrorist group Since Pickering was/is a spokesman for a known terrorist group, I would expect his mail among other things to be monitored.”