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Kristan T. Harris | The Rundown Live
Local Denver citizens became alarmed after discovering that they’re being watched while dropping off mail by a hidden data collection device outside their local post office .
The events took place from Thanksgiving and continued until recently. Who was responsible for planting the device?
The United States Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement branch of the government based organization. The surveillance devices are aligned strategically to document and file your license plate and your facial expression while leaving your local Denver Post Office.
Lee Tien, an attorney for internet rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, believes more federal agencies are getting away with conducting surveillance and collecting personal data of citizens without a warrant signed by a judge.
“Part of being a responsible, constitutional government is explaining why it is doing surveillance on its citizens,” Lee told Halsne. “The government should not be collecting this kind of sensitive information. And it is sensitive! It`s about your relationships, your associations with other people, which can be friendship or political or religious. The idea that we give up that privacy simply because we use the U.S. mail is, I think, a silly idea.”
There is no information on retention time frames, who has access to the data and if the data has been used to make any arrests. Fox31 reported that:
A spokesperson for Postal Inspection Service declined to address the specific reason for the domestic surveillance, but admitted the agency had a “number of cameras at their disposal.” Pamela Durkee, a Federal Law Enforcement Agent and U.S. Postal Inspector, sent an email to FOX31 Denver explaining, “(We) do not engage in routine or random surveillance. Cameras are deployed for law enforcement or security purposes, which may include the security of our facilities, the safety of our customers and employees, or for criminal investigations. Employees of the Postal Inspection Service are sworn to uphold the United States Constitution, including protecting the privacy of the American public.”
The device was ripped from the ground and disappeared within one hour of Fox31 exploiting the cameras.
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