'Smart stamps' next in war on
terrorism
THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
Sending an anonymous love letter or an angry note
to your congressman? The U.S. Postal Service will soon know who you are.
Beginning with bulk or commercial mail, the Postal
Service will require "enhanced sender identification" for all discount-rate
mailings, according to the notice published in the Oct. 21 Federal Register. The
purpose of identifying senders is to provide a more efficient tracking system,
but more importantly, to "facilitate investigations into the origin of
suspicious mail."
The Postal Service began to look
into updating mailing procedures after the anthrax scares in October 2001 when
an unknown person or persons sent several U.S. senators and news organizations
envelopes filled with the deadly toxin. Two post office workers died from
handling envelopes laced with anthrax.
"This is a
first step to make the mail more secure," said Joel Walker, customer service
support analyst for the mailing-standards office.
But what has privacy advocates concerned is a report
by a presidential commission that recommends the post office develop technology
to identify all individual senders, which is directly referenced in the Federal
Register notice. The proposed regulations are open for public comment through
Nov. 20 to the Postal Service.
"The President's
Commission on the United States Postal Service recently recommended the use of
sender identification for every piece of mail," the Federal Register stated.
"Requiring sender-identification for discount-rate mail is an initial step on
the road to intelligent mail."
Also cited in the
notice are two congressional committee recommendations urging the Postal Service
to explore the concept of sender identification, including the "feasibility of
using unique, traceable identifiers applied by the creator of the mailpiece."
"We're not ready to go there yet, but we are trying
to make an initial step to make all mail, including discount mail, easily
identified as to who the sender is," Mr. Walker said.
"Smart stamps" or personalized stamps with an
embedded digital code would identify the sender, destination and class.
In October 2001, a letter was sent to then-Senate
Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, from a bogus New Jersey
address. In theory, smart stamps would allow authorities to better identify
would-be assailants.
"The postal notice itself says
this is the first step to identify all senders, so this is not a matter of
paranoia, this is reality. The post office is moving towards identification
requirements for everyone," said Chris Hoofnagle, associate director of the
Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Mr. Hoofnagle
scoffed at the notion identification could prevent crimes such as the anthrax
attacks on members of Congress and news media two years ago.
"Anyone resourceful enough to obtain anthrax can get
a stamp" without going through the new channels, Mr. Hoofnagle said.
A Treasury Department report from the Mailing
Industry Task Force also recommended that "the industry promote development of
the 'intelligent' mail piece by collaborating with the Postal Service to
implement standards and systems to make every mail piece — including packages —
unique and trackable."
"What happens if I buy stamps
and you need one, is it legal for me to give it to you?" Mr. Hoofnagle said.
Ari Schwartz, associate director for the Center for
Democracy and Technology, said intelligent mail can play an important role and
improve the mail system.
However, privacy issues
must be seriously addressed, and moving forward with the rules on bulk mail
could alleviate some concerns, he said.
"There is a
right to anonymity in the mail. If you look back in the history of this country,
the mail has played an important role in free _expression_ and political speech
and anonymous mail has provided that," Mr. Schwartz said.
Capitol Hill staffers dismissed the potential for
abuse by politicians who might use the system to track anonymous critics.
"A petty staff member, maybe, but I doubt a member
of Congress would do that," said one Senate aide.
Added a senior House staffer: "A politician getting
even with someone? Nah, it just saves us the trouble of having to reply to the
letter."
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