THey’ve been taking pictures of mail for over 20 years. If the Multi Level OCR machines (MLOCR) can’t read an address (i.e. handwriting like mine) a picture is sent to a Remote Computer Reader (RCR) where a better machine or human will read the address and type it into the system without delaying delivery. Ever get mail with those little barcode labels stuck on the back? That’s what it is.
As much as paranoiacs will like to think otherwise, this has to do with efficiency and nothing to do with privacy. It’s explained on the USPS website:
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_046.htm
so...why do the keep the pictures?
buzz killer
Just when the paranoia starts getting good you have to go and cool it off with facts and stuff.