The US Postal Service (USPS) had been sharing the addresses of its customers with tech giants Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap. USPS has now halted this practice, following a TechCrunch investigation.
The postal service took action to ‘remediate’ the issue, but claims it wasn’t aware of the practice, or the extent of the addresses shared.
The revelation raises serious privacy concerns and questions about data protection measures at one of the nation’s largest government agencies.
USPS data practices
The extent of the unintentional breach is not known, but TechCrunch estimates some 62 million users may have been compromised, as of March 2024.
How did this come to light? TechCrunch says their investigation revealed hidden data-collecting codes (tracking pixels) on the USPS website. The team explains that tech companies use this kind of code to collect user information.
“In the case of USPS, some of that collected data included the postal addresses of logged-in USPS Informed Delivery customers, who use the service to see photos of their incoming mail before it arrives”, the TechCrunch team explains.
“In our tests, we found data-collection code on the USPS website that scraped customer addresses from the Informed Delivery page and sent them to businesses. The code also collected information about the user’s computer type and browser.”
USPS and tech giants respond
A spokesperson for the postal service has since issued a statement to TechCrunch, saying USPS does not sell personal information collected via its analytics platforms. “We were unaware of any configuration of the platform that collected personal information from the URL and that shared it without our knowledge with social media.”
USPS claims to have taken “immediate action to remediate this issue.”
Meanwhile, Meta spokesperson Emil Vazquez passed the buck back to USPS, saying, “We’ve been clear in our policies that advertisers should not send sensitive information about people through our Business Tools.”
Linkedin provided a similar explanation, while Snap did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Data protection
A survey conducted by PwC conducted with 20,662 consumers across 31 countries found that a staggering 83% of consumers say they value and trust companies that prioritize their personal data.
But only half of the respondents say they felt confident in their understanding of how their data was stored and used.
In addition, a whopping 71% say they have concerns about the security of their personal data on social media.
NOW READ: What do customers really want? Companies that prioritize data protection
About the author
Cheryl has contributed to various international publications, with a fervor for data and technology. She explores the intersection of emerging tech trends with logistics, focusing on how digital innovations are reshaping industries on a global scale. When she's not dissecting the latest developments in AI-driven innovation and digital solutions, Cheryl can be found gaming, kickboxing, or navigating the novel niches of consumer gadgetry.
