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Millions of users of the postal service were caught in the crosshairs of data sellers.
Recently, it became known that the US Postal Service (USPS) transferred the email addresses of its online customers to such giants as Meta, LinkedIn and Snap. Researchers of the TechCrunch revealed this by analyzing the hidden code that collects data posted on the USPS website.
Among the data collected were the email addresses of customers registered in the Informed Delivery service, which allows users to see photos of incoming mail before it arrives. It is not yet clear how many users were affected and how long the practice lasted. As of March 2024, Informed Delivery had over 62 million users.
USPS spokesman Jim McKean said the service uses an analytics platform for internal purposes to better understand the use of products and services and promote its products on an aggregated level. He stressed that the USPS does not sell or transfer personal information collected by this platform to third parties, and that the service was not aware of a configuration that would transfer personal data without its knowledge.
Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap commented on the situation, saying that their internal policies prohibit the transfer of sensitive information. Moreover, companies train advertisers to properly configure their tools to avoid such cases.
The publication TechCrunch conducted its own testing, which showed that the USPS site transmitted the email addresses of customers to these companies. The code on the site collected addresses from the Informed Delivery login page and sent them further. Other information was also collected, such as the user's computer type and browser, which was partially anonymized, making it more difficult to identify users.
Experts also found that tracking numbers entered on the USPS website were passed on to advertisers and tech companies, including Bing, Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snap. Data about the location of mail items was also transmitted, even if the user was not logged in to the USPS website.
The USPS declined to comment on whether the postal service would require related companies to delete data already collected. The USPS Inspector General's Office, a federal oversight body, did not comment on the situation.
Source
Recently, it became known that the US Postal Service (USPS) transferred the email addresses of its online customers to such giants as Meta, LinkedIn and Snap. Researchers of the TechCrunch revealed this by analyzing the hidden code that collects data posted on the USPS website.
Among the data collected were the email addresses of customers registered in the Informed Delivery service, which allows users to see photos of incoming mail before it arrives. It is not yet clear how many users were affected and how long the practice lasted. As of March 2024, Informed Delivery had over 62 million users.
USPS spokesman Jim McKean said the service uses an analytics platform for internal purposes to better understand the use of products and services and promote its products on an aggregated level. He stressed that the USPS does not sell or transfer personal information collected by this platform to third parties, and that the service was not aware of a configuration that would transfer personal data without its knowledge.
Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap commented on the situation, saying that their internal policies prohibit the transfer of sensitive information. Moreover, companies train advertisers to properly configure their tools to avoid such cases.
The publication TechCrunch conducted its own testing, which showed that the USPS site transmitted the email addresses of customers to these companies. The code on the site collected addresses from the Informed Delivery login page and sent them further. Other information was also collected, such as the user's computer type and browser, which was partially anonymized, making it more difficult to identify users.
Experts also found that tracking numbers entered on the USPS website were passed on to advertisers and tech companies, including Bing, Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snap. Data about the location of mail items was also transmitted, even if the user was not logged in to the USPS website.
The USPS declined to comment on whether the postal service would require related companies to delete data already collected. The USPS Inspector General's Office, a federal oversight body, did not comment on the situation.
Source
