An America Cares Security

(Updated 2008-01-17)

There are concerns the An American Cares program will be exploited by evil doers (drug pushers, terrorists, smugglers, money launderers, ...) for nefarious deeds; or people using it for personal purpose. The concerns are legitimate and no doubt there will be some of that (or at least attempted).

The concerns are legitimate and real. However it's not like An American Cares is without security measures built in.

Each submission for listing to the An American Cares Database will include the Name Address and Phone Number (which will be verified) of the listing person. If there are problems with the listing later on (see below) the authorities have a place to start investigating.
Each Charitable Organization in the An American Cares database will have a unique identifying code. (A 4 digit country code. A 4 digit Organization Identifier. A 4 digit code containing Type of Organization and other stuff.)
When someone mails an An American Cares package, the post office will look up the code (via an Internet lookup, or a database on their own USPS server which has a copy of the database) to certify the receiver is legitimate.
When the listing is verified by the Post Office, the package will be sent. If not verified the Post Office will refuse the package.
The Database will automatically increment a counter that keeps track of how many packages (and of which size) are sent to specific organizations. The database could alert the appropriate authorities (Homeland Security, FBI, ...) whenever an unusual number is sent, or an unusual frequency. The Database will get "smarter" as it goes along to minimize false alarms.
The Database would alert the Post Office during the query if an Database alert is triggered. The package could then be channeled through extra security checks. And it's not like overseas packages are not already going through extra security.
The Post Office already keeps track of overseas packages when the sender fills out the Customs & Contents form. Should a particular package prove to be a problem somewhere down the line, combined with the information in the Database, it's a relatively easy task for authorities to track down the sender.
The Database could even keep a record of each individual sender and declared package contents (though that seems excessive).

Even with the best security measures though, some people will try to take advantage or exploit An American Cares. It's just in the nature of people. We are a nation of 300,000,000+ people. Bound to be some bad apples in there somewhere.

Given the security measures in place (and no doubt more than are listed here) abuses will likely only measure small fraction of a percent of the total An American Cares packages sent. Would we really not institute a wonderful marvelous program that does so much good for everybody involved, just because 1 in a 1,000 (or probably less) takes advantage of it? Deny orphans, homeless and refugees? Deny American good will and generosity?