USPS takes photos of all mail

[Yurt]

USPS takes photos of all mail

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Postal Service takes pictures of every piece of mail processed in the United States — 160 billion last year — and keeps them on hand for up to a month.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the photos of the exterior of mail pieces are used primarily for the sorting process, but they are available for law enforcement, if requested.

The photos have been used "a couple of times" by to trace letters in criminal cases, Donahoe told the AP on Thursday, most recently involving ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

USPS takes photos of all mail

that is a lot of photos...wonder how much storage that requires

 

[Katzndogz]

They can be stored at the PRISM data collection site.

We'll be resurrecting the pony express and direct courier before this liberal occupation is done.

 

[Harry Dresden]

USPS takes photos of all mail

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Postal Service takes pictures of every piece of mail processed in the United States — 160 billion last year — and keeps them on hand for up to a month.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the photos of the exterior of mail pieces are used primarily for the sorting process, but they are available for law enforcement, if requested.

The photos have been used "a couple of times" by to trace letters in criminal cases, Donahoe told the AP on Thursday, most recently involving ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

USPS takes photos of all mail

that is a lot of photos...wonder how much storage that requires

its a picture of the bar Code Yurt.....that bar code can tell you where it came from and where it was going and all stops in between......so they can basically reconstruct the Face of the letter if need be......if they are interested in someones mail for what ever reason....the Supervisor will tell the Carrier to show him the mail that comes in that day and the Sup. will then take actual pictures and send those to the Inspectors...and if its really serious they may hold the actual Mail....

 

[laughinReaper]

Attention Washington. If you want my Aunt Hazels Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe My family will share it. You don't have to listen to my phone calls,track my email and take photo's of my snail mail to get it.

 

[R.C. Christian]

I don't have too much of a problem with this.

 

[laughinReaper]

if it's being used for what they say it's being used for I don't have too much of a problem with it either. If it's being used to track my personal life I do. In the event of upheavel things will probably have to be done old school and if they know who you're used to associating with in the past as compared to the present, that could be problematic.

 

[Yurt]

if it's being used for what they say it's being used for I don't have too much of a problem with it either. If it's being used to track my personal life I do. In the event of upheavel things will probably have to be done old school and if they know who you're used to associating with in the past as compared to the present, that could be problematic.

i can't see the usps having the time or money to track our personal lives, now, if that information is given over to the government for permanent keeping...then that is a problem. that said, i'm not sure there is an expectation of privacy argument as you placed the mail in the public domain, not the contents, but the envelope.

 

[Yurt]

USPS takes photos of all mail

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Postal Service takes pictures of every piece of mail processed in the United States — 160 billion last year — and keeps them on hand for up to a month.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the photos of the exterior of mail pieces are used primarily for the sorting process, but they are available for law enforcement, if requested.

The photos have been used "a couple of times" by to trace letters in criminal cases, Donahoe told the AP on Thursday, most recently involving ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

USPS takes photos of all mail

that is a lot of photos...wonder how much storage that requires

its a picture of the bar Code Yurt.....that bar code can tell you where it came from and where it was going and all stops in between......so they can basically reconstruct the Face of the letter if need be......if they are interested in someones mail for what ever reason....the Supervisor will tell the Carrier to show him the mail that comes in that day and the Sup. will then take actual pictures and send those to the Inspectors...and if its really serious they may hold the actual Mail....

just the barcode? then that would take up less space...thanks for the information.

 

[laughinReaper]

if it's being used for what they say it's being used for I don't have too much of a problem with it either. If it's being used to track my personal life I do. In the event of upheavel things will probably have to be done old school and if they know who you're used to associating with in the past as compared to the present, that could be problematic.

i can't see the usps having the time or money to track our personal lives, now, if that information is given over to the government for permanent keeping...then that is a problem. that said, i'm not sure there is an expectation of privacy argument as you placed the mail in the public domain, not the contents, but the envelope.

It shouldn't have the cash for any of this so who knows how much spying big brother is doing. It's not like the USPS is raking in the cash these days.

 

[Yurt]

if it's being used for what they say it's being used for I don't have too much of a problem with it either. If it's being used to track my personal life I do. In the event of upheavel things will probably have to be done old school and if they know who you're used to associating with in the past as compared to the present, that could be problematic.

i can't see the usps having the time or money to track our personal lives, now, if that information is given over to the government for permanent keeping...then that is a problem. that said, i'm not sure there is an expectation of privacy argument as you placed the mail in the public domain, not the contents, but the envelope.

It shouldn't have the cash for any of this so who knows how much spying big brother is doing. It's not like the USPS is raking in the cash these days.

in the article they claim it is used for mail sorting and since dresden says it is just the bar code...makes sense

 

[Mad Scientist]

Taking a picture and scanning a bar code are two different things. From now on I'll just draw a middle finger on all my mail!

 

[Yurt]

Taking a picture and scanning a bar code are two different things. From now on I'll just draw a middle finger on all my mail!

is there a new idiom for laughing your ass off? because this post qualifies for a next gen idiom.

 

[Old Rocks]

Interesting. Simply re-inforces the point that the present technology has simply outran our ability to deal with it. I can see how this could be abused, and also how it is an excellent tool for counterterrorism. Exactly like the present tool we are exchanging messages on, a two edged sword. I guess we need more Solomon's.

 

[Harry Dresden]

if it's being used for what they say it's being used for I don't have too much of a problem with it either. If it's being used to track my personal life I do. In the event of upheavel things will probably have to be done old school and if they know who you're used to associating with in the past as compared to the present, that could be problematic.

i can't see the usps having the time or money to track our personal lives, now, if that information is given over to the government for permanent keeping...then that is a problem. that said, i'm not sure there is an expectation of privacy argument as you placed the mail in the public domain, not the contents, but the envelope.

they dont.....only if the Inspectors have a reason will they start paying attention to your Mail....if you have had a GOOD Carrier for a few years he probably knows more about the people in the neighborhood then the people who live there.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

USPS takes photos of all mail

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Postal Service takes pictures of every piece of mail processed in the United States — 160 billion last year — and keeps them on hand for up to a month.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the photos of the exterior of mail pieces are used primarily for the sorting process, but they are available for law enforcement, if requested.

The photos have been used "a couple of times" by to trace letters in criminal cases, Donahoe told the AP on Thursday, most recently involving ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

USPS takes photos of all mail

that is a lot of photos...wonder how much storage that requires

its a picture of the bar Code Yurt.....that bar code can tell you where it came from and where it was going and all stops in between......so they can basically reconstruct the Face of the letter if need be......if they are interested in someones mail for what ever reason....the Supervisor will tell the Carrier to show him the mail that comes in that day and the Sup. will then take actual pictures and send those to the Inspectors...and if its really serious they may hold the actual Mail....

just the barcode? then that would take up less space...thanks for the information.

yea a clerk showed how they work...the machines are called Multiline Optical Character Readers....it is a type of mail sorting machine that uses Optical Character Recognition...these Machines are pretty amazing.....the new Flat (Magazine type Mail) sorting Machines are something to behold.....HUGE Machines must 75 yards long.....

 

[Wildman]

ooooh, great, photo this USPS.... ... n ...