ThinkCivics News
An educated citizenry is a vital requisite
for our survival as a free people.
Join ThinkCivics+
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
Join ThinkCivics+
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
Join TC+
Home US News

The Post Office’s Law Enforcement Arm Is Expanding Its Surveillance Powers

The Epoch Times by The Epoch Times
January 25, 2022
in US News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
0
The Post Office’s Law Enforcement Arm Is Expanding Its Surveillance Powers

U.S. Postal Service delivery trucks at the Manassas Post Office in Virginia in a 2011 file photograph. (Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced plans to provide its law enforcement branch with access to its vast trove of customer data, raising concerns among privacy activists about the organization’s expanding surveillance powers.

The USPS came under scrutiny in 2021 when it was revealed that its law enforcement arm, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), was monitoring both left- and right-wing protest groups on social media. Multiple nonprofit organizations sued the USPS, seeking internal records about its surveillance program and questioning the legality of such activities.

Those lawsuits haven’t stopped the USPS from seeking additional surveillance powers. On Dec. 17, 2021, the USPS announced that it intended to provide customer data to USPIS investigators.

“USPIS will collect and aggregate eight data elements—Name, Address, 11-Digit Delivery Point ZIP Code (ZIP 11), Phone Number, Email Address, Tracking Number, IP Address, and Moniker,” the Postal Service stated.

According to the USPS, the influx of new data will allow postal inspectors to conduct “link analysis,” using data analytics to discover patterns and trends in criminal activity.

But privacy activists have brought up concerns.

The Electronic Information Privacy Center (EPIC) filed comments with the USPS on Jan. 18, urging the Postal Service to put the brakes on its plans.

“By demanding access to more postal data, the Postal Inspection Service is exposing USPS customers to wrongful surveillance and a greater threat of data breach,” EPIC stated. “The Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service should separate their information collection procedures and ensure that USPS customers do not come under greater surveillance simply by using a government mail carrier.”

EPIC stated that the USPIS is in danger of mission creep—when an agency has access to more tools or information than it needs to complete its designed mission, leading it to expand into another role outside of the designated mission to utilize those tools.

“The Postal Inspection Service has a well-defined mission in protecting the mail, but the agency has often overstepped its bounds,” EPIC stated. “The Postal Inspection Service now claims a ‘wide jurisdiction’ to preserve the ‘safety, security, and integrity of the nation’s mail system from criminal misuse.’”

Such mission creep has occurred before, according to EPIC, which cited the postal service’s surveillance of the LGBTQ community in the 1950s and ’60s—when the USPIS investigated the delivery of homosexual publications under laws that were intended to restrict the mailing of obscene materials.

EPIC also reiterated its criticism of the postal service’s Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), which was outed in 2021 by Yahoo News for surveilling protest movements.

“The availability of those tools facilitated monitoring protesters and organizers engaging in protected First Amendment activities,” EPIC stated regarding iCOP. “The Postal Inspection Service should be wary of onboarding new tools and new data sources given the agency’s troubled history with mission creep.”

EPIC’s comments to the USPS may be too little too late. The postal service’s Dec. 17, 2021, notification stated that its new data-sharing initiative was to begin on Jan. 18.

The USPS didn’t respond to questions about whether it has already begun transferring customer data to the USPIS or if it’s considering EPIC’s comment before moving forward.

EPIC is still pursuing its lawsuit against the USPIS for running iCOP without conducting a privacy impact assessment—a review of what information is collected, why it’s being collected, how the information is used, and how the data is stored.

The most recent filing from that case is Jan. 14, when the USPIS argued that EPIC’s case should be tossed out.

“EPIC lacks standing to bring this case, because it identifies no concrete interest belonging to it or its members that was harmed by Defendants’ alleged procedural failures,” the filing reads. “EPIC has no statutory right to the information it seeks, and it makes no allegation that the iCOP program harmed it or its members in any way, aside from its alleged failure to comply with the E-Government Act’s procedures.”

No hearings are scheduled in this case.

Authored by Ken Silva via The Epoch Times

The Epoch Times

The Epoch Times is the fastest-growing independent news media in America. We are nonpartisan and dedicated to truthful reporting.

www.theepochtimes.com/
Tags: Post OfficesurveillanceUSPS

Related Posts

Justice May Be Coming for the 51 Who Signed the Intel Letter Against Hunter Biden Laptop

Justice May Be Coming for the 51 Who Signed the Intel Letter Against Hunter Biden Laptop

May 20, 2022
STUDY: Testosterone Treatment Turns Democrat Voters More Conservative

STUDY: Testosterone Treatment Turns Democrat Voters More Conservative

May 19, 2022

Newly Proposed Dem Legislation Could End Gun Sales to All Current Firearm Owners Forever, Require DOJ License

May 19, 2022

Jen Psaki Has Nowhere to Turn After Student Journalist Catches Her in Whopper About SCOTUS Protests

May 19, 2022
Load More
Next Post
Boston patient removed from heart transplant list for being unvaccinated

Boston patient removed from heart transplant list for being unvaccinated

New Bill Would Make It a Crime to Ask Someone About Their Vaccination Status

New Bill Would Make It a Crime to Ask Someone About Their Vaccination Status

MSNBC Host Tiffany Cross: People Need To ‘Pick Up A Weapon And Get Involved’ In ‘The War’ For America

MSNBC Host Tiffany Cross: People Need To ‘Pick Up A Weapon And Get Involved’ In ‘The War’ For America

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

  • Jen Psaki Has Nowhere to Turn After Student Journalist Catches Her in Whopper About SCOTUS Protests

    Jen Psaki Has Nowhere to Turn After Student Journalist Catches Her in Whopper About SCOTUS Protests

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Unvaccinated People Will Be Barred From This, Starting May 31

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • STUDY: Testosterone Treatment Turns Democrat Voters More Conservative

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Newly Proposed Dem Legislation Could End Gun Sales to All Current Firearm Owners Forever, Require DOJ License

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Top doctor sounds alarm as Biden gives away American sovereignty

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Handwritten Notes From 2017 Show FBI Agents Mislead DOJ On The Trump-Russia Investigation

by The Federalist
May 19, 2022
0
Handwritten Notes From 2017 Show FBI Agents Mislead DOJ On The Trump-Russia Investigation
National Security

Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann is currently on trial for lying to the FBI about his role in pushing...

Read more

Jankowicz Got The Boot, But Biden’s ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Hired Replacements Are WORST

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 19, 2022
0
Jankowicz Got The Boot, But Biden’s ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Hired Replacements Are WORST
National Security

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hired the co-author of the PATRIOT Act, arguably the harshest crackdown on civil liberties...

Read more

MSNBC Guests Want GOP Labeled ‘Domestic Terror Party,’ Jail Time For Having The Wrong Opinions

by The Political Insider
May 19, 2022
0
MSNBC Guests Want GOP Labeled ‘Domestic Terror Party,’ Jail Time For Having The Wrong Opinions
National Security

We all know that Democrats and the left love to operate on the premise of “never let a good crisis...

Read more

Incredible Video: George W. Bush Accidentally Condemns ‘Unjustified and Brutal Invasion of Iraq’

by The Political Insider
May 19, 2022
0
Incredible Video: George W. Bush Accidentally Condemns ‘Unjustified and Brutal Invasion of Iraq’
National Security

George W. Bush committed a Freudian slip so brutal they may have to rename the phenomenon after him. The former...

Read more
12 Nightmarish Economic Trends That We Should Expect To See During The 2nd Half Of 2022
Economy

12 Nightmarish Economic Trends That We Should Expect To See During The 2nd Half Of 2022

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 20, 2022
0

If you thought that the economic news was crazy during the first half of 2022, just wait until we get...

Read more
White House Isn’t Paying Attention to Americans Getting Their Retirement Plans Wiped Out
Economy

White House Isn’t Paying Attention to Americans Getting Their Retirement Plans Wiped Out

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 18, 2022
0

The stock market took a steep nosedive Wednesday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by nearly 1200 points. Americans...

Read more
Government official warns of ‘apocalyptic’ food shortages
Economy

Government official warns of ‘apocalyptic’ food shortages

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 17, 2022
0

A governor for the Bank of England is warning about an "apocalyptic" shortage of food that could be coming because...

Read more
Bezos Goes After Biden Again on Twitter, Busting Him Bad
Economy

Bezos Goes After Biden Again on Twitter, Busting Him Bad

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 15, 2022
0

We may be seeing the beginning of the elite throwing Joe Biden under the bus. I wrote on Saturday about...

Read more
Facebook Twitter RSS

Brilliantly

SAFE!

thinkcivics.com

Content & Links

Verified by Sur.ly

2022

Recent News

  • ‘Grave Sin’: Nancy Pelosi Barred from Receiving Communion Over Abortion Stance
  • Must-Watch: Sen. Sullivan Lists What Biden Has Done Just in Last Three Weeks to Block Oil Production
  • 12 Nightmarish Economic Trends That We Should Expect To See During The 2nd Half Of 2022

Category

  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Faith
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • Military
  • National Security
  • Politics
  • Science & Tech
  • US News
  • Videos
  • World News

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Contribute

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.