U.S.P.S. Mail

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Does the U.S.P.S. record the outside of envelopes as they pass through the mail? If on a future date I am suspected of say terrorism, could the U.S. government inspect an image of the front of the envelopes that I have received in the past?

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 2,568 • Replies: 15

[+3] - roger - 08/19/2013Ask NSA, not USPS.

@gollum,

I mail a lot of stuff sold on eBay and pay extra for tracking. If I didn't pay for tracking, the PO wold have no record of anything. Even then, they make mistakes. Also, they recycle tracking numbers after 2 years or so and sometimes forget to delete old delivery dates.

So, my educated guess is you're safe. Of course, if you receive a package from cousin Abdul in Pakistan, you might hit the radar some other way.

0 Replies

@gollum,

yes, and what is worse is that it appears that the post office and not the NSA pays for the effort.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

What's more likely, if its the USPS, someone in another state with a similar name could receive a package from Abdul and you would be flagged for it.

1 Reply

@neologist,

Quote:

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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mail.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

Perhaps. Yet they can't find the package I sent last month to Kansas. They may have pix, but how can they collate them?

3 Replies

@neologist,

Ask NSA, not USPS.

1 Reply

@roger,

Next time a buyer claims he didn't get his package, I'll report it to the NSA

0 Replies

@neologist,

neologist wrote:

They may have pix, but how can they collate them?

Clearly there is some mechanism because they used the system to track the woman who sent ricin the President and tried to frame her ex. They exonerated the ex by looking at the mail records.

1 Reply

@engineer,

You guys are probably right. Perhaps the NSA should handle delivery

1 Reply

@neologist,

'Fraid it's like Roach Motel. They check it in; they don't send it anywhere.

0 Replies

@neologist,

neologist wrote:

Perhaps. Yet they can't find the package I sent last month to Kansas.

Did you send it to me, neo? If so, I've moved to Arizona, and you'll need to send it again.

(Unless it's ricin, of course.)

1 Reply

@Ticomaya,

Just tell me what you bought and pm your address. I'll see what I can do
You may even get a freebie.

2 Replies

@neologist,

you aren't the guy selling previously worn undergarments, are you?

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Rockhead wrote:

you aren't the guy selling previously worn undergarments, are you?

Heh. Heh. Actually, I tip my hand about all the cool things I sell once in a while. Look through my topics.
I have fun selling - don't really need to advertise here.

0 Replies

@neologist,

neologist wrote:

Just tell me what you bought and pm your address.

I didn't buy anything -- including used undergarments.

I just thought you might have sent me a gift.

0 Replies

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