The Postal Service Built a Surveillance Program. Then It Lost the Records.

By 2018, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was running a tracking program called the Internet Covert Operations Program, or iCOP. The program used open-source intelligence tools, cryptocurrency analysis, and social-media monitoring to help agents with investigations.

By 2020, analysts in the program were writing intelligence bulletins about political protest events. The targets included the Million MAGA March, a Virginia gun-rights rally and its counter-protest, Save the Post Office Saturday demonstrations, Black Lives Matter protests, and gatherings near the home of then-Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Postal Inspection Service officials told Congress in 2021 that the program grew during a time of threats against postal leaders, workers, and buildings. Analysts used public online information to spot potential trouble. That explanation makes sense for monitoring near mail facilities, but it does not fully explain the wide range of events found in the records.

For example, one bulletin talked about possible violence from angry online posts while admitting that officials had no proof a real threat existed. Guessing about a threat is not the same as having solid proof, and that difference matters when the targets are people exercising their right to protest.

The Postal Service’s own Office of Inspector General found that certain active searches run by iCOP from February to April 2021 went beyond the agency's legal enforcement powers. The main issue was not that the social media posts were private. Instead, the searches did not have a strong enough link to mail crimes or regular postal duties. The audit did not declare every action or protest bulletin illegal, but it did conclude that specific proactive searches crossed a clear line.

Missing files make it hard for independent watchdogs to check the full reach of the program. According to the inspector general's audit, analysts saved sensitive personal details gathered from public social media pages onto work computers without keeping track of how that information was used or how it helped build final reports. During a public records lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Postal Service revealed that an external hard drive holding important emails broke after someone dropped it. The agency added that the original emails had already been deleted under its routine cleanup schedule.

Agency talking points from the Chief Postal Inspector claimed the agency stopped sharing bulletins like the ones shown in media reports after facing public criticism. Officials also stated that iCOP did not target groups based on race, religion, or First Amendment rights. That claim came directly from the agency, not from an independent check proving no protected speech was watched. After news reports in 2021, the Postal Service reportedly gave the program a new name. No public records show whether the agency stopped collecting social media data, tracking keywords, or sharing intelligence with other police partners under the new name.

Summary

The Postal Inspection Service created a social media tracking program that watched political protests, broke its legal authority during certain searches, and lost or deleted important files during public reviews and lawsuits, making it difficult to fully check its past actions.