A proposal that the Postal Service run a secure email and storage service is not as ludicrous as it might seem on the surface.

As a report (.pdf) written by a group convened by the Postal Service inspector general notes, there are several postal services around the world, including Deutsche Post, that offer in part or in whole services that the group says could be money-making endeavors for the collapsing organization.

None of the services that the group proposes, including secure and verified email and secure online storage, aren't already available elsewhere, but consumer awareness of them is not great. Admit it, you've sent sensitive information through your regular email and counted on it not being noticed as your security solution. Having the Postal Service offer a closed e-mail system could be a step up for most people when it comes to protecting their privacy and security.

But the group's proposal also creates privacy and security problems, or at least the potential for them. How well protected from government monitoring, for example, would that closed email system be? The default assumption of many people is "probably not very much."

And when using an nationwide online storage solution, how confident could users be that the Postal Service can actually defend the security of the stored data there against advanced persistent threats, which no doubt would see such as service as an inviting target? Again, the default response is probably "little," given that even Google has succumbed to APTs.

There are also practical matters--there's reason to doubt that the Postal Service is in a position to become a major email and digital storage provider, at least not without massive outsourcing--which only exacerbates privacy and security concerns.

The proposal, in short, although intriguing, does not seem to be the answer to the Postal Service's problems. - Dave