USPS Informed Delivery

[Donald]

I filled in a online form to get mail forwarded when I moved. One option was "Informed Delivery". I checked it not sure of exactly what it was. So now a day or two before delivery I get a digital image (emailed to me) of most first class letters that will be delivered to me.

While most people have never signed up for this or heard of it, I would assume the USPS needs to take a digital image of every first class letter they process so can they figure out the ones that should be sent to people who signed up for the service and then delete the rest. Or maybe send to FBI or NSA. I sure do not know.

I do know that these days computer storage has gotten super cheap. It use to be expensive to store data, no longer. I work for a very large hospitality company (hotel) and I think for the mainframe we have five copies of all our data with a lot of that for disk mirroring as part of DR.

Does the USPS taking a digital image of most first class mail they process bother anyone?

Bothers me.

 

[Leo99]

I filled in a online form to get mail forwarded when I moved. One option was "Informed Delivery". I checked it not sure of exactly what it was. So now a day or two before delivery I get a digital image (emailed to me) of most first class letters that will be delivered to me.

While most people have never signed up for this or heard of it, I would assume the USPS needs to take a digital image of every first class letter they process so can they figure out the ones that should be sent to people who signed up for the service and then delete the rest. Or maybe send to FBI or NSA. I sure do not know.

I do know that these days computer storage has gotten super cheap. It use to be expensive to store data, no longer. I work for a very large hospitality company (hotel) and I think for the mainframe we have five copies of all our data with a lot of that for disk mirroring as part of DR.

Does the USPS taking a digital image of most first class mail they process bother anyone?

Bothers me.

I signed up for that the same as you and thought it was just going to show me the mail that was on hold and stop after the hold was lifted.

As far as deleting images...I assume they keep everything for a certain period of time and it doesn't bother me because I've never thought the outside of the envelope was private.

 

[eljefino]

They did it in response to the anthrax scare a couple decades back.

"Informed Delivery" is just a side-gig, most of the infrastructure is already in place.

 

[Hall]

Does the USPS taking a digital image of most first class mail they process bother anyone?

This is part of their automated sorting system. They've been taking images of our mail for many, many years. I first about this 10-15 years ago when the USPS built an "office" facility where workers sat in front of terminals and manually read mail envelopes when it was illegible for machines to do it. The person had to try and decipher the address, zip code, etc.

 

[Sparky16]

I get images of ALL of the mail I get, except sale flyers with no address.
I also receives package info, like I'm getting one of my medication from Kaiser today or tomorrow.

Those are really crude, low res images. Imagine the machine takes 30,000 images in an hour, it's 500 images in a minute, more than 8 images in a second.

 

[Donald]

I signed up for that the same as you and thought it was just going to show me the mail that was on hold and stop after the hold was lifted.

As far as deleting images...I assume they keep everything for a certain period of time and it doesn't bother me because I've never thought the outside of the envelope was private.

Well I agree that the outside of the envelope isn't private. Especially a postcard. But making it easy to pull together many little pieces to make a larger picture is where the problems begin to crop up.

 

[dishdude]

I signed up a few years ago, it's a useful service. FedEx and UPS offer similar (without pictures).

 

[NormanBuntz]

Hall is correct. Mailpiece imaging has been used for more than 15 years as part of the USPS upgrade to increased automation, relying less on people to sort and process the mail. At one point years ago wages and employee benefits made up about 80% of the USPS annual budget. New automation is quite the thing. Too bad the mail service standards are going backwards.

 

[TheLastWord]

I find it a very useful service . Highly accurate with good images.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Well I agree that the outside of the envelope isn't private. Especially a postcard. But making it easy to pull together many little pieces to make a larger picture is where the problems begin to crop up.

You mean like data mining and selling it to others for profit? Just about all the mail I get these days is junk mail. So based on all that junk mail, I will probably be receiving even more junk mail in the future. Good thing for USPS, I guess, as they'll be the ones delivering it.

 

[sluggo]

I've been using the service for a while and like it. I have no problem with them scanning the exterior of my mail and I am not at all worried about the images that they may retain. I think it is a useful service.

 

[JustinH]

Its a good service to figure when you need to go to the mailbox and when you don't.

Mine is a block away so i only go a few times a week.

 

[SubLGT]

Well I agree that the outside of the envelope isn't private. Especially a postcard. But making it easy to pull together many little pieces to make a larger picture is where the problems begin to crop up.

Louis DeJoy is very interested in your life. As is your cellphone provider, email provider, and internet provider.

 

[atikovi]

I've had the service for years and really like it. Get an email around 7 to 7:30 am showing the letters and packages coming today. Nice to know my tenant's rent check is coming today and that if it's not in my mailbox, I can follow up with the post office.

Does the USPS taking a digital image of most first class mail they process bother anyone?

Bothers me.

Not one bit.

Well I agree that the outside of the envelope isn't private. Especially a postcard. But making it easy to pull together many little pieces to make a larger picture is where the problems begin to crop up.

A larger picture of what, and what problems?

BTW, are you one of those folks that blackout their license plates when posting a picture of their car online, or do you leave it visible? Never mind, I think I know.

 

[Donald]

I've had the service for years and really like it. Get an email around 7 to 7:30 am showing the letters and packages coming today. Nice to know my tenant's rent check is coming today and that if it's not in my mailbox, I can follow up with the post office.


Not one bit.

A larger picture of what, and what problems?

BTW, are you one of those folks that blackout their license plates when posting a picture of their car online, or do you leave it visible? Never mind, I think I know.

My license plate had all of the lettering peel off. Hard to read no matter how you look at it.

 

[tyman]

ID is legit.

 

[DwightFrye]

I also find it to be a very useful service. I live in a rural area with no residential mail delivery. If I see that there is important mail in my PO Box I go into town to pick it up. If not, it can wait a few days until I have other errands to run.

 

[Finklejag]

I have had it for years. I told my Dad about it and now he bitches to my Mom when things are not in their mailbox. You’re welcome.

 

[SHOZ]

Not available in my area.

 

[Hall]

I told my Dad about it and now he bitches to my Mom when things are not in their mailbox.

I've been using it for a number of years and 90% of the time, it's accurate on a daily basis, i.e. what I see in the email shows up in our mailbox that day, but there are times a piece can be a day (or two) behind. I really don't think they market it as "what's coming today" anyway, just "what's on the way to you".