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"They’ve been photographing all mail for years. Probably started so they could track down dangerous mail and drug-related stuff." No,USPS has been photographing all mail for years because that's how mail has been processed for years. The address block is photographed by one part of a bar code sorter in order for the optical character reader software to convert the address into an eleven digit barcode which is sprayed onto the mailpiece. The bar code reader part of the machine then tells the machine which gate to open, sorting the piece to the correct bin. For letters and flats (magazine sized pieces) mail is run a second time to place the pieces in walk sequence order, eliminating the need for the carrier to sort by hand. Don't tell anybody, but private mailing houses do this too in order to qualify for presort discounts under "work share" programs, sorting, printing, packaging and labelling mail for delivery.