The Washington Post reported on Monday that federal law enforcement authorities have long received information about certain Americans' mail via a little-known U.S. Postal Service operation known as the "mail covers program.”
While officials argue that the program is solely used to investigate criminal activities, it appears to be widely used, with some Americans claiming to have been targeted by the program despite having done nothing unlawful.
The mail covers program prevents outside agencies from opening a person's mail, but it does allow them to look at the information printed on the outside of letters and packages. According to a previously leaked program document, a "mail cover" is an "investigative tool employed to record data appearing on the outside of a mailpiece." For obvious reasons, this could still provide quite a lot of information regarding an individual under surveillance.
The FBI, IRS, Department of Homeland Security, and the Postal Service's own investigative department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, have all requested information. However, the Washington Post claims that "state and local police forces" have also used the program. The good news for investigators—and the bad news for the rest of us—is that accessing the contents of the mail label is not subject to a judge's approval or a court order.
How often is the program used? The answer is quite a lot. A recent audit of the program revealed that the Post Office authorised more than 158,000 information requests over a four-year period. Meanwhile, recent information provided to legislators who were intrigued about the programme revealed that police agencies made "an average of about 6,700 requests per year," the Post writes. Those same legislators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have taken it upon themselves to ask for further transparency and better controls on the program.
The program pales in comparison to another well-known mail-tracking program, Mail Isolation Control and Tracking, which is believed to photograph the exteriors of every item of mail that passes through the United States Postal Service. This program is allegedly designed for routing and organisation, but it can also be utilised for law enforcement purposes.
