Is it illegal to open another person's letters?

darkstar32822

18 United States Code Section 1702. Obstruction of correspondence
Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

This states that all mail in the custody of authorized person, before it is delivered, is guilty of obstruction if they pry into the business or secrets of another, opens or destroys correspondence. In other words mail is sacred, and it not to be tampered with by any person who has custody of the letter until it has been delivered to the person it was directed.

Becca24

It is.

dedaliuswizz

There are only 3 as far as I know who can legaly open other peoples letter Customs and Excise Police and Prison Officers though they must have a valid reason All others it is illegal

shazbotbaru

totally against federal law.......

Terry

It is. Report it to the Post Office.

lea

ofcourse it is

strike_eagle29

IT IS ILLEGAL . TAMPERING WITH GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. MAIL FRAUD. INVATION OF PRIVACY. YOU NAME IT. YOU HAVE TO PROVE IT.

Abby

it's a federal crime to open someone else's mail

Squeakers

Yes it is. US Mail belongs to the Government,until the person who it is issued to opens it. If someone else opens your mail,they can be prosecuted.

slabsidebass

it is illegal.

bildymooner

Yes it is that would be a federal offence.

P*Kitty

yes it is

blogger

Yes it is a federal offense to open mail that is NOT adressed to you.

jcgrier24

Yes you are correct it is a federal offense and those people can be in lots of trouble, contact your local government.

stupid.liberals

It is a federal crime to open someone else's mail.

Newgran

Yes its illegal, they should have returned them stating not known at this address

Not so looney afterall

Yes, most definitely.

Wilkow Conservative

It is a federal crime to open any U.S. mail that is not yours or that you do not have the express permission to open by the owner, the only exception would be having a power of attorney over that person. The biggest problem is proving that someone else opened it and they did not have your permission.

SeahawkFan37

Yes, it's a federal offense to open letters which are not addressed to you.

MiSSy MEâ™¥

It IS ILLEGAL!! They could do some major time or just some community service...it depends how it went down..

rick_wenham

ok lets forget US federal law, I assume that you ar a UK resident.

It is an offence under the postal communcations act to have opened your mail, let alone passed the infomation on, this itself would be an offence under the data protection act, and a very serious breach of your human rights, in particular you right to a private life.

These are serious offences and you should seek good legal advice about taking action against the people who opened your post

shellbee272

It is illegal to tamper with anyone Else's mail. If you live in the UK then postal watch should be able to advise you of the correct steps to take if you wish to pursue this matter further. Hope this helps.

James M

In the united kingdom this is illegal, however it's something to do woth the sender automatically owning the copyright on all letters they send, and only the adressee(s) have been authorised to read the letter by the copyright owner.

Bondgirl

Yes. Unless it's marked with their name - they have broken a privacy law.

pkt3ckg1rl0

Yes, it's a federal law that no one can open another person's mail. And what those people did was illegal, they should have just sent it back to the post office.

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