WASHINGTON, DC -- The next time you go to the Post Office to purchase a
money order, you could get secretly reported to the federal government
as a potential drug dealer, terrorist, or money-launderer, the
Libertarian Party warned today.
It's part of a massive customer surveillance program called "Under the
Eagle's Eye," which has been covertly monitoring Americans --
especially minorities and the poor -- for the past four years.
"The Post Office has gone postal on your privacy," said Steve Dasbach,
national director of the Libertarian Party. "Instead of simply
delivering mail, the Post Office is teaching its employees to spy like
an eagle on its customers. And you could end up in a government
database as a potential criminal without even knowing it."
The Under the Eagle's Eye program, which has been in effect since 1997,
trains postal clerks to watch for customers who act "suspiciously"
while purchasing money orders, making wire transfers, or buying cash
cards.
According to Post Office rules, "suspicious" activity could include
counting money in line, purchasing a large money order, or purchasing
several smaller money orders. However, the Post Office refuses to
disclose the full parameters used to determine suspicious activity,
saying it is a law enforcement secret.
But a customer does not need to meet any legal definition of suspicious
activity -- such as "beyond reasonable doubt" -- to be reported to the
government, according to the Under the Eagle's Eye manual. Instead, "if
it seems suspicious to you, then it is suspicious," the manual tells
postal employees.
Clerks are instructed that it is "better to report 10 legal
transactions than to let one illegal transaction get by."
If a customer does act "suspiciously," postal employees are required to
fill out government Form 8105-B, also called a Suspicious Activity
Report. The form includes a description of the customer and his or her
car's license plate number, if possible. Form 8105-Bs are then sent to
the Treasury Department or stored in a Post Office database for at
least five years.
"It's frightening that postal clerks have the power to report you to
the FBI, the IRS, the DEA, or the Treasury Department as a suspected
drug dealer or money launderer simply because you've purchased a money
order," said Dasbach.
The program is an offshoot of Bank Secrecy Act regulations, created in
1997 by the Treasury Department. The regulations are supposedly
designed to detect illegal money laundering, to track drug-related
money, and to catch terrorists.
Although officials decline to reveal how many "suspicious" customers
have been reported to law enforcement, the Post Office sells about $9
billion in money orders a year. This means that tens or hundreds of
thousands of Americans may have been identified as potential drug
dealers or money-launderers by postal employees.
And a disproportionate number of those suspects are poor people,
immigrants, or minorities, noted Dasbach -- since those groups have
less access to bank accounts, and are more likely to send money orders
to foreign relatives.
"The Under the Eagle's Eye program is not just reprehensible because it
spies on Americans, it's reprehensible because it spies on the poorest,
most vulnerable Americans," he said. "It's especially shameful that
immigrants -- many of whom fled to America to escape oppressive
governments -- are spied on by our own government."
The Post Office refuses to disclose how many criminals it has
apprehended because of the Under the Eagle's Eye program. However, a
similar program which requires banks to monitor suspicious financial
activity generates 99,999 reports on innocent customers for every one
report on a law-breaker, according to the National Economic Council.
If that ratio is the same for the Post Office -- and there's no reason
to believe otherwise -- then the Under the Eagle's Eye program is
infringing on innocent Americans' privacy on a massive scale, noted
Dasbach.
"The idea of treating everyone who buys a money order as a criminal
suspect is outrageous," he said. "That's the reverse of the way things
are supposed to work in America, where we believe it's better to let 10
guilty people go free than to harass one innocent person.
"If police have probable cause to think you've committed a crime, they
should go to court and get a warrant, instead of requiring postal
clerks to act as government informants."
Now that the Under the Eagle's Eye program has become public knowledge,
Americans should rise up and demand an end to Post Office spying, said
Dasbach.
"Unfortunately, the Eagle has landed -- right on top of your privacy,"
he said. "It's time to abolish this un-American spy scheme, and ground
the Eagle for good."
money order, you could get secretly reported to the federal government
as a potential drug dealer, terrorist, or money-launderer, the
Libertarian Party warned today.
It's part of a massive customer surveillance program called "Under the
Eagle's Eye," which has been covertly monitoring Americans --
especially minorities and the poor -- for the past four years.
"The Post Office has gone postal on your privacy," said Steve Dasbach,
national director of the Libertarian Party. "Instead of simply
delivering mail, the Post Office is teaching its employees to spy like
an eagle on its customers. And you could end up in a government
database as a potential criminal without even knowing it."
The Under the Eagle's Eye program, which has been in effect since 1997,
trains postal clerks to watch for customers who act "suspiciously"
while purchasing money orders, making wire transfers, or buying cash
cards.
According to Post Office rules, "suspicious" activity could include
counting money in line, purchasing a large money order, or purchasing
several smaller money orders. However, the Post Office refuses to
disclose the full parameters used to determine suspicious activity,
saying it is a law enforcement secret.
But a customer does not need to meet any legal definition of suspicious
activity -- such as "beyond reasonable doubt" -- to be reported to the
government, according to the Under the Eagle's Eye manual. Instead, "if
it seems suspicious to you, then it is suspicious," the manual tells
postal employees.
Clerks are instructed that it is "better to report 10 legal
transactions than to let one illegal transaction get by."
If a customer does act "suspiciously," postal employees are required to
fill out government Form 8105-B, also called a Suspicious Activity
Report. The form includes a description of the customer and his or her
car's license plate number, if possible. Form 8105-Bs are then sent to
the Treasury Department or stored in a Post Office database for at
least five years.
"It's frightening that postal clerks have the power to report you to
the FBI, the IRS, the DEA, or the Treasury Department as a suspected
drug dealer or money launderer simply because you've purchased a money
order," said Dasbach.
The program is an offshoot of Bank Secrecy Act regulations, created in
1997 by the Treasury Department. The regulations are supposedly
designed to detect illegal money laundering, to track drug-related
money, and to catch terrorists.
Although officials decline to reveal how many "suspicious" customers
have been reported to law enforcement, the Post Office sells about $9
billion in money orders a year. This means that tens or hundreds of
thousands of Americans may have been identified as potential drug
dealers or money-launderers by postal employees.
And a disproportionate number of those suspects are poor people,
immigrants, or minorities, noted Dasbach -- since those groups have
less access to bank accounts, and are more likely to send money orders
to foreign relatives.
"The Under the Eagle's Eye program is not just reprehensible because it
spies on Americans, it's reprehensible because it spies on the poorest,
most vulnerable Americans," he said. "It's especially shameful that
immigrants -- many of whom fled to America to escape oppressive
governments -- are spied on by our own government."
The Post Office refuses to disclose how many criminals it has
apprehended because of the Under the Eagle's Eye program. However, a
similar program which requires banks to monitor suspicious financial
activity generates 99,999 reports on innocent customers for every one
report on a law-breaker, according to the National Economic Council.
If that ratio is the same for the Post Office -- and there's no reason
to believe otherwise -- then the Under the Eagle's Eye program is
infringing on innocent Americans' privacy on a massive scale, noted
Dasbach.
"The idea of treating everyone who buys a money order as a criminal
suspect is outrageous," he said. "That's the reverse of the way things
are supposed to work in America, where we believe it's better to let 10
guilty people go free than to harass one innocent person.
"If police have probable cause to think you've committed a crime, they
should go to court and get a warrant, instead of requiring postal
clerks to act as government informants."
Now that the Under the Eagle's Eye program has become public knowledge,
Americans should rise up and demand an end to Post Office spying, said
Dasbach.
"Unfortunately, the Eagle has landed -- right on top of your privacy,"
he said. "It's time to abolish this un-American spy scheme, and ground
the Eagle for good."
