EU wants RFID chips for its postal services

[Mia]

And here I thought things couldn't get worse... So, all out digital trails are to be monitored and stored, our communications online and over the phone are searched for key phrases and now even all post sent back and forth. Aren't ANYTHING sacred any longer???! This does it! In next election I vote for the PiracyParty the only party that I know that even remotely care about not allowing these things.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/19/eu-wants-rfid-chips-postal

[Celestial Goblin]

Pirate Party is cool, and not just about piracy but generally a pro-freedom-on-the-net party, which I think is a needed voice.

But why RFID chips in mail matter at all? It doesn't make mail any less private, since a chip has no effect on whether an employee will tamper with it or not. It also doesn't remove any anonymity, since mail isn't anonymous to start with. Where's the threat?

[Mia]

Because with the system you will be able to know who sends a mail to whom... just as your normal phone and online communications are watched today (or will be as in Sweden) or you don't believe they will add that little paragraph that will include "terrorist hunting" mainly as a way to expand the digital surveillance.

[Celestial Goblin]

Aren't both the delivery adress and sometimes the return adress written on whatever you're sending anyway? So, if they want to monitor(and possibly tamper) any mail that is sent to X, they just order the post office to notify them about anything adressed to that X. And since the chips will be added in the post office, they won't be of any help in establishing the identity of the sender.
So what will they know that they can't know already, without any electronics?

[Mia]

Mainly because of the cost. By putting a RFID chip on each mail you can have everything monitored and registered very easily just by scanning the chip today they are reading the address which not always get things right, with this added the accuracy would improve. Not to mention you would be able to tell the system that if X sends a mail put those aside.

[Celestial Goblin]

So the only difference would be that the chips are a less expensive way of achieving what could also be achieved trough keeping physical notes on who sends mail to who.
Personally, I don't think it will damage privacy too much, mostly because privacy for mail is practically non-existant already. (except for actual content of envelope or package, of course)

By the way, did the Pirate Party actually say anything about this? If there's an article in english about it, I'd take a look.