--- title: Jimmy Carter: NSA Reads My Email description: Former President Carter says the National Security Agency has abused its authority and recommends snail mail as a method of communication canonical: https://time.com/34848/video-jimmy-carter-believes-nsa-is-reading-his-e-mails/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-23T18:18:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:47:56.639Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jimmy Carter: NSA Reads My Email og:description: Former President Carter says the National Security Agency has abused its authority and recommends snail mail as a method of communication og:url: https://time.com/34848/video-jimmy-carter-believes-nsa-is-reading-his-e-mails/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95a140435d602912/698686d655a8598190a7fddf/jimmy-carter.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: Jimmy Carter Meets With NY Mayor Bloomberg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Carter: NSA Reads My Email twitter:description: Former President Carter says the National Security Agency has abused its authority and recommends snail mail as a method of communication twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95a140435d602912/698686d655a8598190a7fddf/jimmy-carter.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # VIDEO: Jimmy Carter Believes NSA Is Reading His Emails > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5fceacfd-8fc4-4c04-9e31-2c76b95e45aa&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Carter's Method For Avoiding NSA Spying: Snail Mail [Watch (HLS stream): Carter's Method For Avoiding NSA Spying: Snail Mail](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J1v8nw90.m3u8) (0:42)  _Published 2014-03-23. The former president says the National Security Agency has abused its powers._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Mar 23, 2014 6:18 PM UTC The former president says the National Security Agency has abused its powers. by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Mar 23, 2014 6:18 PM UTC Former President Jimmy Carter told NBC’s _Meet the Press_ on Sunday that he has his own system to avoiding being monitored by the National Security Agency, which is under scrutiny following leaks from its former contractor Edward Snowden: “When I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I would type or write the letter myself, put it in the post office and mail it.” He added that the spy agency had abused its authority. ## Transcript Jimmy Carter tells NBC's, Meet the Press, he has his own fool proof method for avoiding NSA monitoring. When I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write the letter myself, put in the Post Office and mail it. Old fashioned snail mail. Yeah. During a sit down with Andrea Mitchell, the former Democratic President said, the U. S. spying agency had abused its powers. That's quite a different tone than the one from President Obama, that such operations were not perfect. Keep Americans safe. Just in the past week, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the NSA can actually keep a record of every call made from a certain country for up to a month. But hey, for all you critics, there's always the Carter method. 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