Topic: Private-ish courier service (Read 397 times)

I'm unsure of how severely couriers are regulated and what their obligations are to ensure they aren't smuggling something. USPS, UPS, DHL, etc frequently deliver narcotics and other contraband, so they obviously aren't expected to catch everything. Will look into it when I have time... would have to be done in a medium-large city first as proof of concept since this service would have a major business disadvantage of not being able to hand off packages to other courier services. The service could be "standardized," though... or franchised - whatever works to increase the size of the network.

Other regulation I was thinking of would be state or local regulations on how long any merchant must keep logs/receipts of transactions for police. Tax compliance might be another sticking point. Would probably suck to go into an audit and not even be able to use the blockchain or keep local records. ... Or maybe couriers don't require special licenses? Could probably fly under the radar for at least a couple years if so.

This could be something that would certainly be attempted in the future but I bet that the U.S government and others would clamp down on this kind of thing in a second, if you think they hate private and encrypted communication they hate the idea that somebody could be delivering something physical right under their noses is even worse and they'd hunt you down for sure. You wouldn't really be able to do this kind of thing legally, they'd search you anyway if you went to an airport or had a boat for instance to take you across, the only way to do it would be through illegal smuggling.

It's interesting though, we only realise just how much of an invasive police state we're in until we actually think about trying to avoid it.

Not much time - will keep it short.

Given US government (especially through the USPS) monitors mail to the extent of scanning and opening mail of private citizens, it would seem justified that a relatively private option exist. There is also the potential for some type of private, dedicated data thief to steal information on couriers' servers, or for the information to be abused by employees. The new "stealth mode" is awesome, but I can't eat data.

Theoreticourier should:
1) Not label packages in plaintext, instead using two QR codes encrypted with different keys. The sender should have the key to view the return address. The receiver should have the key to view the recipient name and shipping address. (how would they get these keys before the package is delivered while maintaining privacy?) Theoreticourier should erase this information immediately after delivery and purposefully fail to relay when a package is delivered, or relay as minimal of information as absolutely necessary. Ideally, it should simply not be provable that the package was delivered, with the tradeoff being the requirement that the sender waives all liability of the courier to deliver the package.
2) Enforce courier regulations at the absolute bare minimum, actively opposing intrusive searching methods.
3) Create a method of anonymous payment which does not require any sort of "broadcasting"*, allowing no return address and permitting packages to be dropped off at non-monitored "boxes" (similar to the many UPS "mailboxes").

*There should be a public Theoreticourier key, where unique payment data can be included via a QR code which Theoreticourier verifies before accepting the package. If no QR code with sufficient payment is included, delivery may or may not be attempted, with the receiver expected to pay the postage. If a return address is given, the package would obviously be returned to the sender.

Obvious questions:
1) Feasible?
2) Legal in at least a small handful of states? Required intrusiveness of package scanning?
3) Actually private?