Postal Service Surveilled Protest Activities Online With Little Rules, Oversight

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Briefings

The U.S. Postal Service used its iCOP program to monitor and report on protests across the political spectrum between 2020 and 2021, including specific events like the Million MAGA March and Black Lives Matter protests. Despite disclosing records to the EFF, the agency failed to provide internal rules or oversight mechanisms that would protect First Amendment rights, as evidenced by bulletins referencing potential violence without specific intelligence. The agency later renamed the program and claimed surveillance stopped, but the evidence suggests continued monitoring occurred. The case remains open for further transparency efforts.

Key points

The agency failed to provide internal rules or oversight mechanisms that would protect First Amendment rights, as evidenced by bulletins referencing potential violence without specific intelligence.

Context

The U.S. Postal Service used its iCOP program to monitor and report on protests across the political spectrum between 2020 and 2021, including specific events like the Million MAGA March and Black Lives Matter protests. The agency later renamed the program and claimed surveillance stopped, but the evidence suggests continued monitoring occurred.

Limitations

The evidence is limited to documents disclosed by the Postal Service and EFF, which may not reflect the full scope of surveillance activities. The agency's internal rules and oversight mechanisms remain unclear, and the agency's claim that surveillance stopped is contradicted by the evidence.

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