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?

Comments

It's not a stamp machine, it's a post office

[JohnQPublic]

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.

Re:Also

[gcaseye6677]

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.

Re:Oh no

[You Been Rob-ed!]

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.