Slashdot Mirror
USPS Service Kiosks Taking Pictures of Customers
NW writes "According to FOIA documents obtained by EPIC new Postal Service self-service postage machines take portrait-style photographs of customers and retain them for 30 days." IBM is the contractor behind the kiosks. Note that the kiosk is supposed to not complete the transaction if it determines the photograph has been compromised, so simply covering the camera is unlikely to work. As the cost of cameras and digital storage approaches zero, is it inevitable that every machine you interact with will take your photograph and store it?
Actually it is.. Stamps are US currency. Its a federal crime to damage one, plus security laws require that a positive ID is made on packages over a certain weight that could be sent via an air carrier. The Credit Card swipe, and the photo are positive ID.
Thats why on all mailboxes, it says if a package is over 16 oz, you ahve to give it to a carrier.
Already been done
http://photo.stamps.com/
The Royal Mail does this, I'm suprised the USPO doesn't.
The answer to the quick-identification problem is tha the personalised stamps have a common part (with the queens head, plus one of a number of designs) with the photo next to that.
Of course, in some ways this means it's no different from having stickers made of your photo and sticking them next to normal stamps...
_O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
You can already do that:
http://photo.stamps.com/
Of course, it's not cheap. Looking that te site for a price....ooops, it seems the've halted the program until the USPS evaluates whether or not to continue with it again. Hopefully they will reinstate it.
It seemed to me that when I looked at it before, it was like $1 per stamp. Not something you'd want to use everyday, but would be neat for special events (ex: wedding invitations).
than people realize.
If you have one of those shopping cards, they can track your purchases. If you travel, you're photographed at every point, especially in Europe. If you buy stamps, your photographed. Welcome to the US police state. Orwell may have written fiction, but damn if it isn't coming to fruition.
I voted for Bush, but I have since had many second thoughts on why I did. I have voted Republican since I was 18, thinking that voting for lowering my taxes, having a small government, etc. would be beneficial. Bush is now performing a power grab unlike anything in history, US or foreign. It's scary as hell.
On a side note, I know a guy that works for a major East Coast ISP. He tells me that during the course of his working there over the last several years, that it is becoming more commonplace for employers doing background checks on potential employers to contact ISPs and request surfing logs . Believe it or not. So now, in addition to having employers run a credit check, they are now delving into what you may be surfing to see if you are trustworthy in their eyes. Sick and invasive. I can understand this if one is going through a securit clearance, but to work in the average job?
Wow... I need to buy my own private island.
In Canada, its illegal, even in a public place, to take a picture of someone without their consent now (response to phone cameras, peeping toms, etc.).
I'd like to know how that fits in.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
The kiosks in question aren't stamp machines (which have been around for 40 years or more), but a complete self-service post office. You can buy postage, mail letters, mail small packages, etc. It takes credit cards, paper currency and coins.
In other words, it *is* a lot like an ATM.
And it's already been ruined by pranksters making stamps of various unsavory characters.
For more information, click here.
There is a clear distinction between public and private space. In public, the government can put up cameras because it is a public space and there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. In private space, only the property owner or a person designated by the owner can put up a camera. They are well within their rights to do this, provided they don't put a camera in an area where an individual would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a restroom stall. The police cannot put a camera in a private space, or aim a camera into a private space, without a warrant. I realize you value your privacy, but keep in mind that public places are by definition not private, and that the government won't be putting cameras in private spaces anytime soon, as it would pretty much require the constitution to be gutted first.
Step 1: Print 8x10 picture of goatse
Step 2: paste onto stiff posterboard, add handle.
Step 3: Cut eyehole(s) as appropriate.
Step 4: Label back "Back - toward friendly"
Step 5: Hold in front of face while using kiosk.
www.eFax.com are spammers
That is not entirely true - US Postage stamps circulated during the Civil War as small change. However, IIRC they were never officially accepted by the federal government as official legal tender. Their acceptance as small change during the Civil War was because of the lack of coin in circulation due to hording; because postage stamps have some value (you can use them for mailing). Also, it should be noted that some postmasters would exchange the stamps that were used for currency for legal tender, but this was not official policy. It was because of this lack of small change that the federal government issued fractional notes to replace the coinage that was being horded.
I'd be more willing to believe you if you spelled Mohammed right. Don't say it's an ethnic thing, either. Every Arab or Indian/Pakistani muslim I've known has spelled it Mohammed.
Maybe his father was the former Prime Minister of Malaysia. Or maybe you just havn't met enough Muslims.
FreeSpeech.org
Why does nobody complain that every single ATM takes your picture.
I'm not talking about the obvious camera mounted in the corner of the ATM booth. I'm talking about the camera mounted behind the screen you stare at to process your ATM transaction.
Behind? Yes, there is a secondary camera inside the touchscreen monitor you use to navigate your ATM menus. Nobody seems to have a problem with these, however.
Just interesting how much people are willing to forgive when it comes to convenience vs. security.
No, according to two recent cases, you do not have a right to public anonymity. Cf. Hiibel v.Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada and Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kelly (the second of which specifically points to the case of wearing masks in public).
"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it." -- Ayn Rand
I'm in the mailing business (I don't work for USPS) and I've read the relevant law. The reason FedEx et al. get away with delivering your letter is that the law makes an exception for guarenteed short time delivery. If your neighbor and you have a mutual friend across town, and you give your neighbor 25 cents to give your mutual friend a note the next time your neighbor sees your mutual friend, you've both committed a felony. That's the way the law is written. Essentially any "letter" that USPS can carry that doesn't require guarenteed delivery within two days is illegal for anyone else to carry for pay.
For fun, calculate how much DDT would be lethal for you!