AIAAIC - US Postal Inspection Service iCOP covert monitoring and surveillance

US Postal Inspection Service covertly monitors justice protestors

Occurred: May 2021
Page published: May 2021 | Page last updated: June 2024

Report incident🔥| Improve page 💁| Access database 🔢

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USP IS) ran a secret AI-powered programme tracking social media users, including racial justice protestors, prompting concerns about civil liberties and the programme's legality.

What happened

From at least 2018, the USPIS operated the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), which monitored social media for posts about protests in the US and abroad.

Analysts collected posts from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Parler, Telegram and others using a number of automated data collection and analytics tools, including Clearview AI's facial recognition system.

Focusing on events including Black Lives Matter protests, pro-gun rallies, anti-lockdown demonstrations, and post‑election right‑wing marches, the programme generated “situational awareness” bulletins that were circulated to other law‑enforcement bodies through Department of Homeland Security fusion centers, sometimes including screenshots and usernames of individuals.

People whose posts were swept up could face further law‑enforcement scrutiny or chilling effects on their willingness to protest, even where there was no evidence of postal‑related crime or credible threat.

Why it happened

USPIS justified iCOP as a way to assess threats to postal employees, infrastructure and operations by monitoring publicly available online information for possible violence near protests.

In practice, the programme conducted broad keyword searches (for terms like “protest,” “attack,” and “destroy”) that were not limited to postal‑related threats, exceeding its mandate to investigate crimes involving the mail, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The OIG later found that certain proactive social media searches between 2018 and 2021 were “not legally authorized” and that USPS could not show they had proper justification or legal approvals.

Limited external transparency, notably secret criteria, unclear legal basis, and vague internal oversight, allowed the programme to run for years before media reporting, FOIA requests, and congressional interest forced public scrutiny.

What it means

For directly affected individuals and movements, being covertly catalogued in federal surveillance bulletins simply for planning or discussing protests risks stigmatisation, further monitoring, or information‑sharing with other agencies, even where no crime is alleged. More broadly, knowing that a non‑intelligence agency like the postal service is scanning protest speech can chill lawful dissent and online organising, undermining trust in government services and law enforcement.
For policymakers, the incident highlights gaps in statutory limits and oversight on how “ordinary” federal agencies can use open‑source intelligence tools, facial recognition, and bulk social‑media monitoring. It underlines the need for clearer rules on mission creep, proportionality, and transparency whenever government entities monitor protest‑related speech, even when using publicly visible data.

System 🤖

Clearview AI
Zignal Labs

Operator: US Postal Inspection Service (USP IS)
Developer: Clearview AI; Zignal Labs
Country: USA
Sector: Govt - postal
Purpose: Identify crime suspects; Identify protestors
Technology: Facial recognition
Issue: Accountability; Human/civil rights; Privacy/surveillance; Proportionality; Transparency

Timeline ⏰

2018–2020. USPIS iCOP and related analytics units begin systematic open‑source monitoring, including social media, in support of investigations.
2020. USPIS tracks online activity around Black Lives Matter protests and other demonstrations, generating internal bulletins.
November 2020–January 2021. Monitoring covers post‑election right‑wing events, including the “Million MAGA March” and activity around the January 6 Capitol riot.
April 2021. Yahoo! News reporting and subsequent coverage reveal the covert USPIS social‑media surveillance programme to the public, prompting political criticism and questions in Congress.
August 2021. Privacy group EPIC files a lawsuit against the US Postal Service to block the use of facial recognition and social media monitoring tools under iCOP, and accusing the USP IS of systematically blocking freedom of information requests relating to the programme.
March 2022. EPIC's lawsuit is dismissed on the basis that EPIC did not suffer a 'cognizable injury in fact' from the Service’s unlawful refusal to disclose information about the programme.
March 2022. A US Inspector General audit of the iCOP programme concludes that the USP IS did not have the legal authority to conduct the sweeping intelligence collection and surveillance of American protesters and others between 2018 and 2021.

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

EPIC (2022). Postal Service Surveillance Program Targeted in EPIC Lawsuit ‘Exceeded’ Legal Authority, Inspector General Finds
US District Court for the District of Colombia (2022). Opinion
EPIC (2022). Court Won’t Hear Merits of EPIC Suit Challenging Secret Postal Service Surveillance Program
EPIC (2021). EPIC vs U.S. Postal Service
EPIC (2021). EPIC Sues Postal Service to Halt Use of Facial Recognition, Social Media Monitoring

Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️

US Office of Inspector General (2022). U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Online Analytical Support Activities
Yahoo! News (2022). Inspector general says post office surveillance program exceeded legal authority
Yahoo! News (2021). Facial recognition, fake identities and digital surveillance tools: Inside the post office's covert internet operations program

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

Related 🌐

AIAAIC Respository ID: AIAAIC0710

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse