Feds Spying Over Thousands of US Citizens Mail Each Year

(OurNationNews.com) The United States Postal Service has provided information regarding thousands of packages to federal law enforcement without a proper warrant to do so. The USPS states that they will provide that information to authorities only when it aids in a criminal case, but records show they have complied with 97% of the 60,000 requests they have received from authorities.

Between the years of 2015 and 2023, the USPS has retained personal information regarding 312,000 letters and packages. All of this was done without approval from the court. The requests that were received were primarily from the IRS, DHS, and FBI. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon found the newly obtained data alarming and said a staggering number of Americans are surveilled by the federal government without a warrant. He said the USPS seems to automatically grant authorization to nearly every request they receive.

Eight Senators, including Republicans and Democrats, authored a letter to the USPS in 2023 to tell the USPS that this program is a violation of the constitutional rights of Americans. Gary Barksdale, the U.S. Chief Postal Inspector, said that individuals cannot reasonably expect privacy relating to the information disclosed on the outside of a letter or package. He said the information collected by the USPS is not a mass surveillance program.

Every request received by the USPS may cover days to weeks of mail. The program has been considered legal since 1879 as ruled by the Supreme Court. The ruling indicates that information on the outside of a letter or package is not subject to reasonable privacy. A warrant is required to look inside the mail or it is a violation of the fourth amendment.

The USPS states it will provide this information to law authorities to “further an investigation.” An investigation need not involve the individual whose mail is being surveilled. It also doesn’t mean that a known crime has occurred. Investigations happen in search of crimes and thus any package or piece of mail is subject to surveillance under these terms.