Sens. Ron Wyden and Rand Paul are urging the U.S. Postal Service to change its surveillance policies that enable its warrantless surveillance of people’s mail on behalf of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The bipartisan duo is concerned that the postal inspectors set their own rules for the physical surveillance with little oversight, whereas any snooping on electronic communications is subject to laws and judicial review.
The Oregon Democrat and Kentucky Republican are worried about the Postal Service’s mail covers to track sender and recipient information for agencies such as the FBI, IRS, Department of Homeland Security, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“USPIS’ mail covers regulations only require that the agency or postal inspector requesting a mail cover submit the request in writing. No court order is required,” the senators wrote to the chief postal inspector Wednesday. “In contrast, government agencies may only monitor Americans’ metadata associated with electronic communications, such as email or instant messaging, with a court order.”
Tens of thousands of Americans are subject to Postal Service surveillance each year, according to the senators.
The Postal Service’s website said its mail cover program is authorized to conduct the surveillance in pursuit of protecting national security, locating fugitives and obtaining evidence of someone committing a crime or attempting to do so.
The lawmakers said the risk of abuse of mail covers is not theoretical and concerns people’s fundamental rights.
“While mail covers do not reveal the contents of correspondence, they can reveal deeply personal information about Americans’ political leanings, religious beliefs or causes they support,” the senators wrote. “Consequently, surveillance of this information does not just threaten Americans’ privacy, but their First Amendment rights to freely associate with political or religious organizations or peacefully assemble without the government watching.”
The senators wrote that they want the postal inspectors to provide lawmakers with an action plan by June 16 that details how the Postal Service will overhaul its rules to protect Americans’ liberties and privacy.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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