Effective November 26, 2015, the Postal Service™ is revising the Administrative Support Manual (ASM) to account for the disclosure of information or data about a piece of mail outside of the Postal Service.
The Postal Service is implementing a pilot test of a new service called Informed Delivery, which provides https://www.usps.com/ account holders a preview of the day’s mail by sending a daily email containing images of the front of each mailpiece to their inbox. By doing so, USPS® enhances the value of mail to consumers who are increasingly mobile and who value digital communications. In addition, the service allows mailers increased access to today’s customers. These revisions are necessary to allow USPS to provide and compile the images to an addressee who requests them by participating in the Informed Delivery service. Because data derived from mailpieces will form the basis for compiling content for the Informed Delivery service and will be disclosed externally to enrolled users, the Postal Service is amending Chapter 2, Audits and Investigations.
Administrative Support Manual (ASM)
* * * * *
2 Audits and Investigations
* * * * *
274 Mail Security
* * * * *
274.5 Disclosure of Information Collected From Mail Sent or Received by Customers
[Add new 274.5f(10) to read as follows:]
(10) To provide http://www.usps.com account holders who are enrolled in the Informed Delivery service with images of mailpieces that are intended for delivery to the account holder addressee.
* * * * *
We will incorporate this revision into the next online update of the Administrative Support Manual, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n In the left-hand column under “Essential Links”, click PolicyNet.
n Click Manuals.
The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.
— Privacy Office,
General Counsel and Executive VP, 11-26-15
