快猫短视频

Letter of the law

Why seal envelopes if the police can see inside anyway?

A SPRAY that makes unopened envelopes transparent鈥攕o the letters inside
are as easy to read as postcards鈥攈as been developed by a company in the
US. And the spray leaves no trace, says its inventor, Mistral Security of
Bethesda, Maryland.

鈥淲ith a business card in a brown envelope,鈥 says company spokesman Bob
Schlagel, 鈥測ou can read the card, the e-mail address, the telephone number,
别惫别谤测迟丑颈苍驳.鈥

Schlagel says that the spray, called 鈥淪ee-Through鈥 was developed to let
police forces inspect potentially dangerous packages, like a letter bomb.

Described as a 鈥渘on-conductive, non-toxic, environmentally safe liquid鈥, the
spray has been tested to make sure it leaves no trace on envelopes, Schlagel
says. 鈥淚t leaves an odour for 10 to 15 minutes,鈥 he adds, 鈥渂ut apart from that,
there鈥檚 no smudging of ink on the envelope or on the letter, no watermark, no
evidence at all.鈥

He says tests have shown that the spray works on all colours of envelopes,
unless they have a plastic barrier like those found on padded envelopes.
Mistral鈥檚 distributors will only sell the product to 鈥渓aw enforcement agencies鈥,
he adds.

John Wadham, director of Liberty, the human rights organisation, says that
police in Britain would need a warrant to use such a spray to examine letters.
But Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, a London-based human rights
group focusing on surveillance issues, says the spray could tempt security
forces to bend laws. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for governments to side-step
legislation on mail interception and opening,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an ethically
questionable product.鈥

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