The United States Postal Service (USPS) is entangled in a federal lawsuit, accused of potentially sharing the private information of over two-thirds of American households with labor unions.
The controversy initially arose from a program initiated by the Biden Administration to distribute free Covid-19 tests. The program involved mailing four free tests to any American who filled out an online form on USPS’s website.
But Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) uncovered a clause in the online form’s small print, saying USPS can disclose to labor organizations the highly personal information Americans submitted – without their consent. This information includes both where they live and how to contact them directly. USPS’s disclosure raised alarms about why USPS would potentially aggregate vast amounts of Americans’ sensitive data and give it to labor unions. Since then, it appears USPS has added this labor unions language to the fine print for purchases both through USPS.com and in brick-and-mortar stores. It even added the language to its Change of Address form.