Lesson plan
Postal interception
Postal interception is the act of retrieving another person's mail for the purpose of either ensuring that the mail is not delivered to the recipient, or to spy on them. For instance, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were involved in numerous large-scale operations targeting US activist groups, whose mail was opened and photographed. In one such programme, over 215,000 letters were opened. In the United Kingdom, the Special Investigations Unit of the General Post Office was responsible for postal interception. Since 2002, the United States Postal Service photographs the outside of all mail, retains those images for weeks or months, and provides them to police or other investigators upon a simple request.
Article summary
Postal interception is the act of retrieving another person's mail for the purpose of either ensuring that the mail is not delivered to the recipient, or to spy on them. For instance, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were involved in numerous large-scale operations targeting US activist groups, whose mail was opened and photographed. In one such programme, over 215,000 letters were opened. In the United Kingdom, the Special Investigations Unit of the General Post Office was responsible for postal interception. Since 2002, the United States Postal Service photographs the outside of all mail, retains those images for weeks or months, and provides them to police or other investigators upon a simple request.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.