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Years ago I completed the permanent opt-out for everyone in my household (needing to mail in a paper form is shameful). However, very few unsolicited junk mails
by sumthinprofound 4y ago
Years ago I completed the permanent opt-out for everyone in my household (needing to mail in a paper form is shameful). However, very few unsolicited junk mails since. For any that get through I call that company's support line and request removal. Works ~90% of the time.
One cool free feature the USPS does offer is Informed Delivery [0]:
Every morning around 7am I get an email from the postal service with scanned images of all the mail (face of the envelope) I'm receiving that day.
[0] https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.acti...
- malandrew 4y agoI have mixed feelings about unformed delivery as I don’t think government should have scanned copies of all the mail you get. It’s as personal as when we decided that your video rental history was. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act
- homero 4y agoThey scanned them before then to route them.
- propogandist 4y agolikely transactional data to sustain operations vs retaining the information, which may only happen after opting into the informed delivery service.
- krsrhe 4y ago
- crayboff 4y agoThey scan all mail already, that's how it gets routed to each home. Informed delivery just has them email you those images they are already taking. Also in case you were thinking it, they don't open the boxes/letters. It's just the front of it
- geerlingguy 4y agoWell they likely x-ray them too.
- ascagnel_ 4y agoThey definitely X-ray parcels, for security. Shortly after 9/11, I remember a local post office failing to detect explosives and it getting reported on; this was notable for two reasons: - one of the hijackers had received a knife through the mail, and it had been processed through that office, so there was extra scrutiny at the time - a few years prior, that office processed and delivered a package the Unabomber sent that killed someone
- dimitrios1 4y agoYes, the USPS started scanning packages and letters since the great Anthrax scares. This is just a productization of an already widespread, in-use technology.
- speakfreely 4y agoThe majority of mail screening these days is to find illegal drugs. However, given that so many drugs get through, it seems they only x-ray a small subset.
- hackernewds 4y agoNot to worry, the government is too inefficient and does not have the technology to convert all that data into anything personalized
- wl 4y agoToo bad some product manager had to ruin it by adding ads to those emails. Another revenue opportunity and a way to promote USPS things.
- bmitc 4y ago
- ovao 4y agoThe USPS is actually entirely to blame.
- stoponerr 4y agoyeah, i am sure our current ruling class would be way nicer to them if they broke up their union.
- hackernewds 4y agoThe USPS has no choice given the purposeful malignant accounting of their pension fund. Instilled to privatize the USPS. Watch as mail in voting becomes a thing, that rancor is even more amplified
- throwaway1775 4y agoThe USPS has had these advertising agreements to monetize your data stemming back from the 1990s when they formed an alliance with Pitney Bowes, which was sold to Imagitas, then acquired by MYMOVE, subsidiary of Red Ventures, the scummy data collection marketing giant. https://www.mymove.com/about-us/ https://www.mymove.com/about-us/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/12/postal-services-welcome-kit-raises-privacy-concern/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/12/postal-serv...
- Natsu 4y agoThose rules also ensure that the pension fund can't be raided, as has happened in the past, e.g. - https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/01/13/75954/index.htm https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992...
- omginternets 4y agoI cannot for the life of me find the address to which I must send the permanent opt-out form. Did anyone manage to find it?
- garrtt 4y agoOpt-Out Department P.O. Box 530200 Atlanta, GA 30353
- omginternets 4y agoCheers!
- Vladimof 4y agoI use informed delivery but for some reason they only send me images of about half the mail I'm getting...
- ajmurmann 4y agoFor me it seems to omit pictures of junk mail.
- chairmanwow1 4y agoSame for me
- Vladimof 4y agoI just received a legitimate letter from another country and it was completely missing from informed delivery
- jeffparsons 4y agoAusPost seems to offer something like Informed Delivery for post office boxes, but not for residential addresses. I receive so little addressed (non-parcel) mail, this feature alone almost makes it worth getting a PO box, just so I don't have to remember to check my mail box for the once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence of it containing a posted letter.
- NamTaf 4y agoI was just wondering whether AusPost offered something similar... it's a shame to hear it's not for residential addresses. Almost all of my mail is deliveries of freight from online purchases, so I make habitual use of the locker box and post office collection services. I find them very useful, but unfortunataely for the plain old mail I still have to remember to check the box once every couple of weeks.