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I wonder if the NSA might start promoting this technology to close the 'snail mail loophole' that Jimmy Carter uses? [1] [1] http://news.yahoo.com/former-us-pr

• ancarda 13y ago
  Is there any reason the NSA can't open snail mail?
  • slowmotiony 13y ago
    They can, but the recipent will see that the package has been opened? It's pretty obvious.
    • ancarda 13y ago
      Oh that's so obvious I didn't even think of that.
    • hnal943 13y ago
      Depends on how badly they want to conceal the information. There's a whole discipline around opening documents covertly (flaps and seals).
  • sparkman55 13y ago
    There are a number of US laws that protect mail / post explicitly, and don't explicitly protect email. See this article on the matter: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/data_mine_1/2013/06/nsa_surveillance_why_the_post_office_doesn_t_spy_on_your_mail_the_way_nsa.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/data_mine_1/2013/06... One of the laws in question: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/18/I/83/1708 http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/18/I/83/1708
  • fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    They probably don't have to for most mail. I posted this yesterday in the Jimmy Carter's mail discussion thread. tl;dr It isn't difficult (at least in principle) to read mail through the envelope. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7456157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7456157
• fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  It isn't needed, at least for the metadata part. see "Mail Covers": http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mail.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mai...