Postal interception
Encyclopedia
Postal interception is the act of retrieving another person's mail
for the purpose of ensuring that the mail is not delivered to the recipient, or to spy on them.
For instance, the CIA and FBI were involved in numerous large-scale operations targeting U.S. activist groups, whose mail was opened and photographed. In one such program, over 215,000 letters were opened.
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
for the purpose of ensuring that the mail is not delivered to the recipient, or to spy on them.
For instance, the CIA and FBI were involved in numerous large-scale operations targeting U.S. activist groups, whose mail was opened and photographed. In one such program, over 215,000 letters were opened.
See also
- COINTELPROCOINTELPROCOINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
- SurveillanceSurveillanceSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
- Church committeeChurch CommitteeThe Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church in 1975. A precursor to the U.S...
- Black roomBlack roomWhile a black room or black chamber is often now used to refer to any place or organisation dedicated to code-breaking, its more exact meaning is a secret room in a post office, and, later and by extension, a telecommunications center used by state officials to conduct clandestine interception and...
- Postal censorshipPostal censorshipPostal censorship is the inspection or examination of mail, most often by governments. It can include opening, reading and total or selective obliteration of letters and their contents, as well as covers, postcards, parcels and other postal packets. Postal censorship takes place primarily but not...