-- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204/";>leitl</a>
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 10:14:02 -0400
From: David Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: IP: The Postal Service Has Its Eye on You
>Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 00:23:38 -0400
>To: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: The Postal Service Has Its Eye on You
>
>THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS ITS EYE ON YOU
>
>By John Berlau
>
>July 14, 2001
>
>Since 1997, the U.S. Postal Service has been conducting a
>customer-surveillance program, 'Under the Eagle's Eye,' and reporting
>innocent activity to federal law enforcement. Could you already be a
>victim?
>
>http://www.moreprivacy.com/editorials/postaleye.htm
<snip>
One thing that should set off alarms, the postal service says, is a
customer objecting to filling out an 8105-A form that requests their date
of birth, occupation and driver�s license or other government-issued ID for
a purchase of money orders of $3,000 or more. If they cancel the purchase
or request a smaller amount, the clerk automatically should fill out Form
8105-B, the �suspicious-activity� report. �Whatever the reason, any
customer who switches from a transaction that requires an 8105-A form to
one that doesn�t should earn himself or herself the honor of being
described on a B form,� the training manual says.
But the �suspicious� customers might just be concerned about privacy, says
Solveig Singleton, a senior analyst at the Competitive Enterprise
Institute. And a professional criminal likely would know that $3,000 was
the reporting requirement before he walked into the post office. �I think
there�s a lot of reasons that people might not want to fill out such forms;
they may simply think it�s none of the post office�s business,� Singleton
tells Insight. �The presumption seems to be that from the standpoint of the
post office and the Bank Secrecy regulators every citizen is a suspect.�
Both Singleton and Nojeim say �Under the Eagle�s Eye� unfairly targets the
poor, minorities and immigrants � people outside of the traditional banking
system. �A large proportion of the reports will be immigrants sending money
back home,� Nojeim says. Singleton adds, �It lends itself to discrimination
against people who are sort of marginally part of the ordinary banking
system or who may not trust things like checks and credit cards.�
<snip>
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