Inspector General: USPS Illegal spying program ran for three years. It was aimed at Black Lives Matter protestors.
By Jana Winter, Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON — An inspector general probe into the U.S. Postal Service surveillance program, known as iCOP, concluded that the agency did not have the legal authority to conduct the sweeping intelligence collection and surveillance of American protesters and others between 2018 and 2021.
The Postal Service Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into iCOP — which stands for Internet Covert Operations Program — at the request of Congress in direct response to reporting from Yahoo News last year.
“We determined that certain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an open-source intelligence tool from February to April 2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service’s law enforcement authority,” the March 25, 2022, inspector general report stated.
“Furthermore, we could not corroborate whether other work analysts completed from October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized.”
Recent Posts
Starbucks Workers Build Steam
Take Action Now Since last fall, the union effort has increased its capacity to exert pressure on the corporate mega-giant—including in a March 22…
Banking Crisis 3.0: Time To Change The Rules Of The Game
Take Action Now What constituted a radical departure from capitalist principles in the last financial crisis was not “nationalization” but an…
Behind The #StopCopCity Domestic Terrorism Warrants
Take Action Now “Most of the criminal defense lawyers I have spoken with are indicating that there is no individualized suspicion in any of these…
Here’s How The US Could Phase Out Fossil Fuels Fast
Take Action Now A new report lists 10 policies to constrain polluting infrastructure and achieve key climate goals. By Joseph Winters, Grist On…