Even US 'snail mail' being used by government for 'snooping'

The US Postal Service reportedly has two key programs in collaboration with the federal government's surveillance project to counter terrorism and track all the mails which flow in the postal offices.

According to Washington Times, one of the programs called as 'mail cover', has been in place for decades and allows postal workers the ability to record, by hand, all the information on the front and back of letters that are mailed to residences, at the request of law enforcement.

The other program called as 'Mail Isolation Control and Tracking' which was started in 2001, is a little more high-tech and allows the workers the ability to photograph the exterior of each mail and the data is then recorded if required for future investigation.

Ex-Justice Department worker said that in the past, mail covers were used when one had a reason to suspect someone of a crime but the current program has added mail covers on millions of Americans irrespective of any security reason, the report added.