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Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

informeddelivery.usps.com

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Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#151

Post by 0xffff2 »

seltzered_ wrote: post #101

Worth remembering five years ago there was a startup (Outbox) trying to work with the USPS on this with some disruptive features (spam mail removal). USPS killed it: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7667068 Outbox's shutdown note: http://web.archive.org/web/20140712084627/http://blog.outbox... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7097892

I think spam mail removal is an entirely different beast since USPS makes a lot (maybe even most) of their money off of mail that most people consider spam. It's in USPS's financial interest to deliver as much junk mail to you as possible.

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#152

Post by xfitm3 »

ams6110 wrote: post #104
crazygringo wrote: post #38

I tried signing up for this 3 months ago, and was shocked to receive images for the mail of literally everyone in my building (I'm one of seven apartments). Huuuge privacy violation. (It's just images of the envelopes, but that still tells you a lot.) I unsubscribed and then went to file feedback, and got an immediate reply explaining this was by design : > Thank you for participating in Informed Delivery®. You recen…

I frequently get actual mail addressed to my neighbors, so IMO that's a worse problem than seeing the images of the envelopes or packages. I also don't know what problem this really solves. Grasping at straws for the USPS to remain relevant I think. Big waste of money in my opinion.

I think this is intended to improve reliability. Having an image taken at some point in the process can identify issues pre and post sort. Maybe even provide evidence that mail was postmarked at a specific time.

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#153

Post by brewdad »

ams6110 wrote: post #104
crazygringo wrote: post #38

I tried signing up for this 3 months ago, and was shocked to receive images for the mail of literally everyone in my building (I'm one of seven apartments). Huuuge privacy violation. (It's just images of the envelopes, but that still tells you a lot.) I unsubscribed and then went to file feedback, and got an immediate reply explaining this was by design : > Thank you for participating in Informed Delivery®. You recen…

I frequently get actual mail addressed to my neighbors, so IMO that's a worse problem than seeing the images of the envelopes or packages. I also don't know what problem this really solves. Grasping at straws for the USPS to remain relevant I think. Big waste of money in my opinion.

I signed up for it after my letter carrier misdelivered two pieces of my mail in less than two weeks after having maybe one mistake in the previous decade. I think my post office stopped using the same carrier on the same route everyday and instead tried some sort of "load-balancing" scheme where a carrier's route can change based on mail volumes.

By seeing the mail I should be receiving, I know to talk to m neighbors if it doesn't show up in my box within the next day or two. We continue to have delivery issues about every couple of months.

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#154

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

eli wrote: post #121
sl1ck731 wrote: post #37

This has been great for deciding if I want to walk out to the mailbox in the winter or not. But I believe signing up for this caused me to get a ton of junk mail. There is something about either forwarding/address changing or this informed delivery that allows USPS to sell your new address to junk mailers. I signed up for both at the same time and was flooded with new junk mail the day I moved in. It gives me a serio…

You can opt out of the vast majority of junk mail here if you wish: https://dmachoice.thedma.org/

Who/what is this? Official USPS service, third party...? It looks either really cool or really sketchy, and I can't tell which.

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#155

Post by 1stcity3rdcoast »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #83
logfromblammo wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The workaround is to do a temporary change of address, and contact each company that sends you mail forwarded from your old address individually, to update your address record. When the mail stops forwarding, you stop getting mail from anyone that you didn't explicitly inform of your new address. The permanent change of address triggers advertising that targets new residents. Restaurants want to try to snag your regu…

It's also one of the best ways to get the vaunted Bed Bath and Beyond 20% off your entire purchase coupon. Depending on how much stuff you're buying after you move, that can be worth a little junk mail

They’ve already started piloting an annual subscription that gives you a permanent 20% off every purchase, every time, with a barcode pre-loaded on your phone. It cost me $29 for the whole year. I buy a ton of stuff at BBB for my company and it paid for itself in the first hour. And no paper coupon needed!

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#158

Post by ncr100 »

jlarocco wrote: post #65
crazygringo wrote: post #38

I tried signing up for this 3 months ago, and was shocked to receive images for the mail of literally everyone in my building (I'm one of seven apartments). Huuuge privacy violation. (It's just images of the envelopes, but that still tells you a lot.) I unsubscribed and then went to file feedback, and got an immediate reply explaining this was by design : > Thank you for participating in Informed Delivery®. You recen…

I don't see the privacy violation. The outside of envelopes are publicly viewable by design so that they can be delivered. If you don't want others to know who's mailing you, ask the sender not to place their name and address on the envelope. But the situation isn't hard to understand. The entire building has a single code, and the delivery guy is responsible for inserting mail into the individual lock boxes, and he…

How about these impacts:

"When did you last receive a piece of mail from your Cancer / HIV Doctor?" -> leverage knowledge to extort patient

"When do payroll checks arrive?" -> break into building on that afternoon and steal checks

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#159

Post by PascLeRasc »

ada1981 wrote: post #140
PascLeRasc wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It solves the problem of wasted energy delivering mail people don't want, like junk mail/spam. I'd be very interested to see how much wasted paper and gas goes into producing and delivering junk mail. Mail processing centers already use computer vision to see where a parcel's going instead of manually sorting, so this is a logical step forward.

How does this stop junk mail ? I have this and get an email every day showing me a bunch of mail I don’t want or need.

My mistake. I thought the point was to let you choose to discard mail before receiving it.

Re: Digitally preview incoming USPS mail and packages

#160

Post by adrianmonk »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #154
eli wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can opt out of the vast majority of junk mail here if you wish: https://dmachoice.thedma.org/

Who/what is this? Official USPS service, third party...? It looks either really cool or really sketchy, and I can't tell which.

It is an industry trade group for organizations that use direct mail marketing. It gets mixed reviews, and it's not perfect, but it seems to be basically legitimate.

With email spam, costs are so negligible that there's no way it's worth the trouble of removing an address. Every piece of physical mail costs money for printing and postage, so while it's not a big incentive, a cost saving incentive actually does exist.

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