What country are you in with such high tech PO boxes? Ours are just metal boxes. They're usually in a post office, but sometimes they're just on the side of the road. I've never needed to interact with a touchscreen to get mail.
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2025
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Privacy
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in the u.s. iirc usps gets your valid government id and home address when you rent a box at a post office, as does contacted private providers (e.g. ups store, etc) if you go that route. they are not 'private' or anonymous, just potentially more 'secure' in that your mail and parcels won't be left outside your door or in an accessible and unsecured mailbox.
and also that you don't have to give away the location of where you live to everyone who needs to send you mail or a package ..., including your employer
Wait, your employer doesn't need to know your legal address in the US?
i don't think it's 'legally required' but it is bound to be on documentation you provide to prove eligibility to work. may also be needed for one or more types of background checks an employer may require.
I use my passport and social security for ID, neither have my residential address on them. It's only on my state-issued driver's license, which I don't use for ID.
Many employers require a street address, it's one of the reasons the homeless have a hard time improving their situation.
I gave my employer my PO box address, that's what they have.
I guess it works if their background check is very laissez faire.
I work for a corporate multinational conglomerate that very much is not laissez faire 😅
Clearly laissez faire enough in regards to addresses. Which is cool, I wish this was more common. People have a right to privacy.
yeah, I think it might have been an oversight - after acquisitions there is a lot of chaos and sometimes there are periods where HR is disrupted and things slip through the cracks. In this case, the software that manages your information allowed me to change from my residential address to a PO box and no one ever brought it up.
If you're concerned about those kind of things, your concerned about a state-level actor. Do you really think that is gonna subvert them? You're getting into the realm of paranoia. A PO box (paid for in cash) is for shipping drugs off the dark net and not having it attached to your identity easily. If you're concerned about surveillance and fingerprints being taken, you're on a whole different level. You should probably ditch your computer and cellphone....