Ordering from Amazon and UPS

[Lacey]

Hey guys. Do you think I am being paranoid by thinking that maybe ordering prepping supplies like mylar bags, books, food, etc online from places like Amazon, etc. make it easy for UPS to spot preppers? I don't know if they would/could be told to keep an eye out for things like this. Perhaps it's just my mind worrying too much.

It won't keep me from buying things, but it was just a thought that maybe these places might take notice of preppers.

[dilli]

I suppose it could but it is not something I worry about at all in today's society. Everyone shops online these days and all sorts of weird stuff is delivered. Very littel of what we order even has a label on the box saying what the contents are or could be. They also makes so many deliveries that unless they were of criminla mind to begin with , few places would stick out in their mind without a really good system of documenting I know our UPS guy has been the same one since I have been here and although we dont order much online, recently we have had at least 2 deliveries a week for well over a month now. Yesterday ws the first time driver ever asked me what was in the box and that was only because it was tobacco and he had to smell it wafting through the truck all day long. After asking he said to me" but i thought yall grew your own tobacc"o.. to which i replied, " we do but believe we will run out before harvest time and see ya thursday :D...i think there are much bigger things to worry about than my possible wacky ups man

[Sunshine]

@ Lacey: I've wondered the same thing.(Not UPS, but the government watching my purchases) I too order my prepping supplies and goods online. If I didn't, I don't know where I would get my stuff from. I live in the country. So I must keep ordering online. Although it was suggested to me to not use goggle (and the others) when searching about "my crazy ideas". So I've been using startpage.com as my search engine. I don't know a lot about it. But they don't track your info or something. I'm a little paranoid too. (But I've always been) Big Brother's watching!!!

[610Alpha]

not worried about them as much as the zombies. i personally don't do business with Amazon after the whole Pedophile book fiasco. They were selling a how to manual on how to be a pedophile.....GRRRR! They dropped the main offender but there were still other similar books listed on the site so I haven't done business with them since and I doubt I ever will.

There isn't any real privacy on the internet, even if you go to the library they assign you a computer and they note the time/day that you use it....which can be tied back to a pc that has a specific ip address.

If you want more secure transmissions use SSL and encryption to beef up your privacy but even then know that they have Cray supercomputers that can crack your encryption.

You could alternate who you use to ship your goods.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

You can worry about it but no matter what you buy or where you leave a trail. No one is really worried about anyone here unless they are doing something wrong by breaking the law. There is nothing wrong with preparing or storing food, heck they cant even find a 6'6" dude in a world of short men who needs daily medical treatments living in a cave so why bother someone with a few hundred lbs of rice that doesnt even have a parking ticket? The nice thing on mylars is it doesnt say what it is on the ups package like some idiot ammo companies

[arcangel911]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Most (if not all my supplies) come in boxes. Most UPS guys do not know the addresses on the boxes. Their job is point, scan, drop-off and send- (I used to work for UPS). The UPS guy showing up at my door is not exactly the worst visitor I am expecting.

As for the government coming for my stuff, good luck on that. I think they have more problems and even bigger issues on the horizon than what I am buying off the internet.

[Klayton]

Not worried at all, I have my cases of canned Mormon long term storage grain shipped directly to my door (they only charge $4.00 a purchase, can you believe that). The UPS drivers are so overworked, I am pretty sure they are not making records/notes of who is getting prepper stuff. I could be wrong, but he has to get through my door after SHTF something I would hope he understands is a pretty hard task to do for any prepper's house. :)

You know, that pesky risk vs reward thing we learned about in school. :)

[Matt In Oklahoma]

The only thing thats ever happened was a few years ago I ordered some hunting items and the UPS guy started a conversation about hunting and then told me a guy down the street ordered alot of ammo/bullets every week. I remembered thinking man what an opsec breach for him but again mylar and stuff has no markings

[Klayton]

DANG MATT!!! My ammo comes in by UPS too, ahh great an OPSEC leak... **evilly plots to take out UPS driver if SHTF** LOL, just kiddin'

[buttebob]

I retired from UPS. Most drivers at the center I worked made between 100 to 180 stops per day. Some only made about 35 stops. The ones that made 35 stops drove over 300 miles a day. They may notice what's in the box from what's on the outside of the package but only to relieve the boredom of the day.
The Diad that the driver scans the package with is a computer that is placed in its dock in the car after the package is delivered and immediately sent to the center. This information is stored so UPS can keep track of all packages. UPS is only interested in where the packages are and that there are no forbidden packages in their system.
This is how it works: a driver picks up a package from a shipper, and scans that package. When the car is unloaded at night the package is scanned and loaded on a trailer. When that trailer is unloaded the package is scanned again. If the package is to be delivered by that center it is scanned and loaded on the car, if not it is loaded on another trailer and scanned again. The driver scans the package again when it is delivered. As soon as the shift is over and the Diads downloaded, or uploaded never could keep that straight, UPS knows what happened to that package.
I wouldn't worry about UPS. Worry about the little guy working in some store who thinks its his duty to report anything he feels is suspicious.
I know of such a person that called ATF to report a man for buying 2 lbs of powder.

[monkeybird]

I really don't worry about it. I order from various places, Costco being one. But in addition to prep stuff, I order ordinary stuff as well. In todays computer world, it would be difficult to weed through all that data. I recently ordered fabric from a place called SIRS. I'm sure that the UPS man had no idea what type of company SIRS is. All he cared about was delivering the package. If you order from Lowdowns company - JRH Enterprises - do you really know it's prep supplies?

[Patriot Prepper]

I retired from UPS. Most drivers at the center I worked made between 100 to 180 stops per day. Some only made about 35 stops. The ones that made 35 stops drove over 300 miles a day. They may notice what's in the box from what's on the outside of the package but only to relieve the boredom of the day.
The Diad that the driver scans the package with is a computer that is placed in its dock in the car after the package is delivered and immediately sent to the center. This information is stored so UPS can keep track of all packages. UPS is only interested in where the packages are and that there are no forbidden packages in their system.
This is how it works: a driver picks up a package from a shipper, and scans that package. When the car is unloaded at night the package is scanned and loaded on a trailer. When that trailer is unloaded the package is scanned again. If the package is to be delivered by that center it is scanned and loaded on the car, if not it is loaded on another trailer and scanned again. The driver scans the package again when it is delivered. As soon as the shift is over and the Diads downloaded, or uploaded never could keep that straight, UPS knows what happened to that package.
I wouldn't worry about UPS. Worry about the little guy working in some store who thinks its his duty to report anything he feels is suspicious.
I know of such a person that called ATF to report a man for buying 2 lbs of powder.

I don't think you are paranoid. I think you are being smart and conscientious. We need to be concerned. However if you did not evaluate the risk level and likely hood of the government tracking your purchases and packages. Then you might be a little paranoid.

I was going to say that it is unlikely that they would get UPS to spy on anyone. UPS drivers are under the gun, they barely take time to breath. The ones I see are in a constant rush. Then I saw this gentlemans guote and it confirms what I was thinking.

Further more, why would they have to have the UPS look at your packages. Why not just look at Amazons or other vendors databases, like they did with the telephone company when they were looking for terrorists. I think they have better methods of finding those persons who do not comply with their rules. All you have to do is refuse the CHIP and they will know who you are. When they eliminate physical money and employ a 100% electric digital money system, that's the time to get real paranoid and start pooping your pants.

I will resist and will not comply. Can't afford to be paranoid or fearful. Just sensible.

[Lacey]

Thanks guys, for your responses. I really appreciate it.

[Bull]

@ Lacey - I wouldn't put anything past the government. According to the Secretary of Homeland Security, if you are a veteran, a Tea Party member, or basically a conservative, then you are a potential terrorist, who should be checked out. UPS or anything like that is probably O.K. but anything you do online can be tracked by Uncle Sam if he was so inclined. The Department of Homeland Security issued a report in April in which they declared "right wing extremists" a potential terrorist threat, and that it was improving and expanding it's aim at gathering information on those groups. I guarantee you that we, as in everyone on this forum, fall into that category. From the report: "(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization." So, you can draw your own conclusions about how they feel about you, a radical, right wing extremist, potential terrorist, stocking up. But UPS is probably cool. I'm gone from home for 8 months out of the year, so I order just about all my prepping stuff, or any stuff for that matter, online. But what is the concern about them knowing you're prepping? If you are worried more about the big brother aspect, then there are ways to be more discrete. If you simply don't want people knowing that you have a lot of valuables in your home, then there are different ways to deal with that. But more than likely, UPS and the like are nothing to worry about at all. Big brother is another story.

[2682nscovell]

Hey guys. Do you think I am being paranoid by thinking that maybe ordering prepping supplies like mylar bags, books, food, etc online from places like Amazon, etc. make it easy for UPS to spot preppers? I don't know if they would/could be told to keep an eye out for things like this. Perhaps it's just my mind worrying too much.

It won't keep me from buying things, but it was just a thought that maybe these places might take notice of preppers.

I would suppose but there is the same issue with using a debit card each time you make purchases.

"Look at this Johnson! Mr Scovell purchased 20 boxes of Aunt Jemima pancakes mix! We better mark him down for the food ratio check!"