Former President Jimmy Carter Sends Notes by Snail Mail to Avoid NSA Email Surveillance

Jimmy Carter talks at the LBJ library in 2011

Jimmy Carter talks at the LBJ library in 2011

We’re not the only ones wary of the NSA‘s power to monitor our personal communications. Even former president Jimmy Carter avoids sending personal emails when he can, opting to send notes via snail mail instead.

In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Meet the Press, the 39th president said that national surveillance programs have “been extremely liberalized and I think abused by our own intelligence agencies.”

The former president goes so far as to physically mail letters to foreign leaders instead of emailing them because he believes his emails will be monitored:

As a matter of fact, you know, I have felt that my own communications were probably monitored, and when I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write the letter myself, put it in the post office and mail it.

Carter has criticized US intelligence policies in the past, stating that “America has no functioning democracy at this moment,” and the spying scandal is undermining democracy around the world and causing people to lose faith in U.S. internet platforms such as Google and Facebook. Carter has also expressed his support of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Watch Carter’s interview with Mitchell below – the NSA talk starts at 3:44.

via Reddit

Lauren Mobertz

By Lauren Mobertz

Lauren is the former managing editor for DashBurst. One part geek, one part urban nomad, she is constantly scouting for the latest tech and world news. In the evenings you'll find Lauren running in strange places or attempting to dance salsa.