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jtronique
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Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail"
#18648042 - 08/02/13 07:13 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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08/02/2013
"AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail"
"Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe poses with next to a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general, after an interview with the Associated Press at his office at U.S. Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. Donahoe has a wish list for raising cash for his financially ailing agency. High on it is delivery of beer, wine and spirits. In an interview with The Associated Press, Donahoe also endorsed ending most door-to-door and Saturday mail deliveries as cost-saving measures. "
"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.
"We don't snoop on customers," said Donahoe, adding that there's no big database of the images because they are kept on nearly 200 machines at processing facilities across the country. Each machine retains only the images of the mail it processes.
"It's done by machine, so there's no central area where any of this information would be," he said. "It's extremely expensive to keep pictures of billions of pieces of mail. So there's no need for us to do that."
The images are generally stored for between a week and 30 days and then disposed of, he said. Keeping the images for those periods may be necessary to ensure delivery accuracy, for forwarding mail or making sure that the proper postage was paid, he said.
"Law enforcement has requested a couple of times if there's any way we could figure out where something came from," he said. "And we've done a little bit of that in the ricin attacks."
The automated mail tracking program was created after the deadly anthrax attacks in 2001 so the Postal Service could more easily track hazardous substances and keep people safe, Donahoe said.
"We've got a process in place that pretty much outlines, in any specific facility, the path that mail goes through," he said. "So if anything ever happens, God forbid, we would be able very quickly to track back to see what building it was in, what machines it was on, that type of thing. That's the intent of the whole program."
Processing machines take photographs so software can read the images to create a barcode that is stamped on the mail to show where and when it was processed, and where it will be delivered, Donahoe said.
The Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program was cited by the FBI on June 7 in an affidavit that was part of the investigation into who was behind threatening, ricin-tainted letters sent to Obama and Bloomberg. The program "photographs and captures an image of every piece of mail that is processed," the affidavit by an FBI agent said.
Mail from the same mailbox tends to get clumped together in the same batch, so that can help investigators track where a particular item was mailed from to possibly identify the sender.
"We've used (the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program) to sort the mail for years," Donahoe said, "and when law enforcement asked us, 'Hey, is there any way you can figure out where this came from?' we were able to use that imaging."
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-usps-takes-photos-073116945.html
Ed. With particular regard to discussions on whether USPS or UPS is more secure, the various advantages and disadvantages of these mail services, albeit that USPS First class mail is protected by 4th Amendment, I know of no cataloguing by UPS, comments are welcome.
-------------------- "If he drinks his Cyder alone, let him get his Horses alone." - Ben Franklin
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Synthe
Gatorade me, bitch!



Registered: 11/10/12
Posts: 7,961
Loc: Three bags of Funyuns
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: jtronique]
#18648307 - 08/02/13 08:43 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Woah, surprising. Hopefully they stick to using it to bust wannabe terrorists and not petty drug users.
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Guest F
Stranger

Registered: 01/26/13
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: Synthe]
#18648334 - 08/02/13 08:52 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Petty drug users are more important obviously.
-------------------- All cultivation posts are what I believe to be accurate. If I give ANY misinformation, please do not hesitate to correct me.
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StygianKnight
A Mushroom

Registered: 03/12/12
Posts: 2,717
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: Guest F]
#18648370 - 08/02/13 09:05 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Of course they do! It's how robots sort the mail. And your postoffice knows where you live! *gasp*
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Guest F
Stranger

Registered: 01/26/13
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: StygianKnight]
#18648384 - 08/02/13 09:07 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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They know where I live??? They're as bad as the NSA!
-------------------- All cultivation posts are what I believe to be accurate. If I give ANY misinformation, please do not hesitate to correct me.
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Synthe
Gatorade me, bitch!



Registered: 11/10/12
Posts: 7,961
Loc: Three bags of Funyuns
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: StygianKnight]
#18648385 - 08/02/13 09:07 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Guest F said: Petty drug users are more important obviously.
Yeah wouldn't want the suburban kids smoking weed! Better to drain their parents liquor bar
Quote:
StygianKnight said:
And your postoffice knows where you live!
What? No...!
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Guest F
Stranger

Registered: 01/26/13
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Last seen: 7 years, 11 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: Synthe]
#18648394 - 08/02/13 09:11 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Synthe said:
Quote:
Guest F said: Petty drug users are more important obviously.
Yeah wouldn't want the suburban kids smoking weed! Better to drain their parents liquor bar
Quote:
Exactly. I once knew a kid who smoked weed, he died after one injection. Such a dangerous drug..
-------------------- All cultivation posts are what I believe to be accurate. If I give ANY misinformation, please do not hesitate to correct me.
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jtronique
Stranger



Registered: 02/22/12
Posts: 67
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: Synthe]
#18648422 - 08/02/13 09:18 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Yeah wouldn't want the suburban kids smoking weed! Better to drain their parents liquor bar
Quote:
StygianKnight said:
And your postoffice knows where you live!
What? No...!

IRONICALLY, from the article , Donahoe states ".[he] has a wish list for raising cash for his financially ailing agency. High on it is delivery of beer, wine and spirits" This comment is not fleshed out. What do you suppose he meant, cashing in on unauthorised shipments of said liquors???? Really??????? is it an admission of going after bootleggers, or tax evaders in the alcohol arena? Would import of Tobacco be next?
I do have a friend who received a letter of demand from the state for cigarettes that she purchased in Japan "Rave" brand I think, for which the tax duty had not properly been paid at customs.
-J
-------------------- "If he drinks his Cyder alone, let him get his Horses alone." - Ben Franklin
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jtronique
Stranger



Registered: 02/22/12
Posts: 67
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: jtronique]
#18648436 - 08/02/13 09:20 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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PS - we are in the state of MA which actually just raised Cigarette taxes yesterday. So much good this is going to do, when NH is just 20 miles up the road.
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CidneyIndole
www.shroomery.OG



Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 4,762
Loc: Love's Secret Domain
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: jtronique]
#18648786 - 08/02/13 10:55 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
jtronique said: PS - we are in the state of MA which actually just raised Cigarette taxes yesterday. So much good this is going to do, when NH is just 20 miles up the road.
Seriously. They could have just proposed to give some money to NH instead.
Of course, I'm sure everyone can't make that drive. But with the major price discrepancy between the two states, I can't help but wonder how many people will be trying that.
-------------------- ------------------------ I am me. We are You.
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jtronique
Stranger



Registered: 02/22/12
Posts: 67
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: CidneyIndole]
#18648988 - 08/02/13 11:52 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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On my way up to NH atm 
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IoRhinz



Registered: 04/19/13
Posts: 119
Last seen: 11 months, 19 hours
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: jtronique]
#18649082 - 08/02/13 12:22 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Does this mean that the UPS also takes a picture of your mail?
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my3rdeye



Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 4,354
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 3 years, 16 days
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: IoRhinz]
#18649572 - 08/02/13 02:08 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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The automated mail tracking program was created after the deadly anthrax attacks in 2001 so the Postal Service could more easily track hazardous substances and keep people safe, Donahoe said.
"We've got a process in place that pretty much outlines, in any specific facility, the path that mail goes through," he said. "So if anything ever happens, God forbid, we would be able very quickly to track back to see what building it was in, what machines it was on, that type of thing. That's the intent of the whole program." -----
When I was working at a private courier service a package broke with a corrosive chemical inside and the line and warehouse was shut down. The sender who wouldn't pay the fee for the haz mat sticker got sued for loads. More than just drugs they are concerned about. If they are just looking for next unibomber or whatever I would expect them to be doing this shit anyway. Unless the NSA is copying the info in which case our privacy is being raped, again.
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nooneman


Registered: 04/24/09
Posts: 14,714
Loc: Utah
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: jtronique]
#18651464 - 08/02/13 08:17 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Long as they don't take pictures of the contents. 
You know how much spam they must have taken pictures of?
I'm sure some poor politician is panicking knowing that his gay porn mags are being photographed every month.
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huffinglue
tryin to stay sober


Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 450
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 9 years, 9 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: IoRhinz]
#18653802 - 08/03/13 10:16 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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I know they scan the barcode everywhere it goes and changes hands, and the barcode just has the names and addresses of the sender and reciepient
-------------------- I fucking hate grammer nazis! Yes, I can't spell. Yes, I don't have perfect grammer. I post from my phone and dont give a shit about people whose lifes are so boring they get off on putting people down for not having perfect fucking grammer, even though they know excactly what there saying.. Fuck You. It's just a ride mang...
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dokunai
Cactus, Cannabis, Cubensis

Registered: 01/31/10
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Loc: Hyphal Heights, USA
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: Yahoo News: "AP Interview: USPS takes photos of all mail" [Re: huffinglue]
#18656220 - 08/03/13 09:22 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
huffinglue said: I know they scan the barcode everywhere it goes and changes hands, and the barcode just has the names and addresses of the sender and reciepient
The barcode is called an indicium, or indicia in plural.
I don't think people have an issue with the scanners, because without them modern mail processing would be impossibly slow. What they have an issue with is the retention of this information beyond the point where it could be useful in speedy mail delivery.
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