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USPS To Provide Personal Identity Certification
Zentalon writes "The United States Postal Service has announced that it will provide In-Person Proofing (pdf) to physically authenticate individuals before a digital signature certificate is issued to that person. This has a bunch of interesting ramifications; for instance, I could create a simple spam filter that only accepts mail from individuals and organizations that have an authenticated certificate. It could also allow for more secure financial transactions. Anyone know if any other national postal services are planning the same thing?" Funny, they don't seem to always know where to deliver so-called first-class mail ...
Shortly after digital signatures became legally equivalent to regular signatures in Germany, Deutsche Post (the German postal service) offered digital authentication. Last time I heard about it, it was being scrapped due to a lack of demand.
"Light is faster than sound." - "Is that why people tend to look bright until you hear them speak?"
Other than that, I'm sure it'll be great. When will my local branch (literally in a small town in Nebraska) have their PKI training day?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Sounds like an opourtunity to charge us. This seems a lot like the door opening for the postal service's charging to send emails. Why else would they be offering to develop this amazing technology? To make our lives better?
future shocked
Is this how they are going to roll out a national database system? Saying it will help in the fight against spam and forgery? Not that I'm "totally" against such a system, but it seems like they are misrepresenting the true nature of this.
what good is a digital signature verified by the Post Office if you are unable to.......... speak?
Mike.
Mmmm......sacrelicious.
Just a comment about the "Funny, they don't seem to always know where to deliver so-called first-class mail ..." remark.
Have I had mail lost? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes.
But, think about how amazing it is about what the USPS does right. It moves billions of pieces of mail every day, and almost all of it (percentage wise) gets to where it should be going in spite of the fact that not every piece of mail can be automatically routed and multiple people end up looking at it at one point or another. And, in spite of the price increases, I can still send a letter anywhere in the US for 37c and it'll usually get there within a 2-3 days.
Sure, dealling with the post office is a pain occasionally, and they do lose some mail. But, when I think about the scope and scale of what they do right, it does boggle my mind.
35922 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2003 /
Notices
Dated: June 12, 2003.
D.L. Gamberoni,
Technical Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-15347 Filed 6-13-03; 11:53 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
POSTAL SERVICE
In-Person Proofing at Post Offices
(IPP) Program
AGENCY: U.S. Postal Service. ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The USPS is announcing the availability of an In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program to support the activities of U.S. Certificate Authorities and government organizations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chuck Chamberlain at 703-292-4172, or Brad Reck at 703-292-3530
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, a number of new federal statutes have sought to preserve the ability of the public and private sectors to use the efficiency of the internet to rapidly exchange time sensitive communications while assuring that people receiving and sending messages are in fact who they say they are. A number of top quality private sector businesses have mastered the technology around the use of secure digital signatures, yielding a greater demand for improved identity verification for individuals seeking to use digital signatures.
This need for improved ''online identity'' creates a unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. Numerous organizations have approached the U.S. Postal Service to conduct In-Person Proofing (IPP) of customers nationwide for physically authenticating an individual's identification at a post office before the organization issues a digital signature certificate to the individual.
IPP supports efficient, affordable, trusted communications through the use of identification verification at Post Offices, incorporation of process enhancements required by the Postal Service, active management of the IPP program by the USPS, and use of a First Class U.S. Mail piece to verify physical addresses of applicants. We believe that IPP conducted at local post offices will create a new broad based capability for the Nation that promotes improved public trust and greater efficiency in the electronic delivery of a wide range of services. These efforts support achieving the goals of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002, and Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act of 1999 and numerous Presidential Directives on eGovernment. The following is a brief description of how IPP would work. An organization can establish a relationship with a qualified U.S. Certificate Authority to integrate digital signing with improved identity verification into an online application. Any individual desiring to use digital certificates that include USPS IPP will complete an application online. The online system will verify the individual's identity via commercial data base checking. The system will then produce a standard Postal Service form to be printed out at the ''applicant's'' personal computer. The individual requesting the service will present this form to a participating post office where the ''In Person Proofing'' process is conducted. After successful completion of the IPP event, the CA will notify the applicant to download their digital certificate. For clarity, the steps in the IPP process are outlined below.
1.0 DESCRIPTION
1.1 Purpose
IPP is a postal program to improve the public key infrastructure of the Nation. The public key infrastructure has emerged as an accepted infrastructure component for protecting and facilitating the electronic communications of the Nation.
2.0 BASIC STANDARDS
2.1 Eligibility
For a Certificate Authority (CA) to use IPP, the CA must incorporate the U.S. Postal Service In-Person Proofing Policy into their Certificate Policy. Conformance to the Po
They'd already sort of be competing with Verisign and other certificate authorities that use various ways to verify your identity. I don't know what is worse, dealing with Verisign or dealing with the USPS.
I dunno, while this seems like a great idea on the surface, I am a little leery about going and getting "proofed" for this digital signature. Having not read the article, it seems like just one more database entry on me to be cross-referenced so that I can be "accurately" profiled by the government or whatever other really large entity decides they want to. I'll stick to my GPG signature, thanks. But then again, maybe my foil hat needs to be adjusted....
What's important is that the PDF is unique. Once it becomes clear that a PDF is associated with a spammer, the PDF will become useless, no matter who it claims to belong to.
This sounds potentially like a great method to prevent spam or at least to allow verified mail, but it still doesn't sound like a complete solution. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Internet is that it allows people anonymity. If only emails with digital signatures are allowed then anonymous email won't get through. On the other hand, if verified email were possible, it would prevent false positives for spam and Bayesian filters could handle the rest of email. This way emails wouldn't be falsely designated as spam and everything would get through.
I hear ya there.
The USPS could learn a thing or two about accuracy and error-prevention from Slashdot.
fnord
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
[ed. note: no it isn't]
I recieved my official danish digital certificate(x.v509) by getting two pin codes. One via snail mail and the other when I ordered the certificate via the web. Both had to be typed in to recieve the certificate via mail.
Seems pretty secure to me.
The only thing it works for so far is tax stuff, and mail.
still reading?
The USPS' idea for certified proofing for digital signatures is in the right direction for securing financial transactions, helping to prevent spam (in the case of accepting emails only e-signed from registered people), but initiating such a project will bring the US closer to a National ID card.
/required/ to register with the USPS in order to take advantage of the online filings with the IRS. Sure, but what if people just file in paper? Without a doubt, the government will then ad a fee to paper filings to encourage taxpapers (everyone) to register with the USPS service.
By attaching services such as online tax refunds or filings, the public will be
Let me see your papers, please!
This sounds like a wonderful idea! It's about time the USPS got with the times. For too long they've been afraid of digital technology. Remember when they tried to put a tax on faxes in the 80's because they thought everybody was going to use those insteading of sending letters? It's that kind of short-sightedness that hurts the postal service's quality image as a whole.
The only thing that worries me is the oversight on this by Donald Rumfields. The USPS is actually a division of the US Department of Defense...kind of like how the Treasury department oversees the secret service. Does this mean, then, that the Bush administration would get to decide who does and doesn't get digital certificates? Also, what about big business interests? Bill Gates gives an awful lot of money to Bush, so what if he decided no Linux users could get these certs?
What are your thoughts, guys?
Cheers, FtP
Consensual sex is boring.
2.1 Eligibility For a Certificate Authority (CA) to use IPP, the CA must incorporate the U.S. Postal Service In-Person Proofing Policy into their Certificate Policy. Conformance to the Postal policy includes: 1. Use of a Patriot Act compliant database vetting process to gain initial assurance of an applicant's identity before sending the applicant to the Postal Office for IPP.
Yay, more data to shove into the Patriot Act machine. What a bargin!
I wonder what impact this will have our "Home Security" initivates. Will they make it mandatory that we turn in our a digitial signature and identify oursevles? America seems to be drawing nearer and nearer to a police state and I wonder what impact something of this nature will produce in the long run.
Football Sports Contest - Win $500 for having an e
I saw this in Bulgaria. Few online banking sites require use of digital certificates and username/password. You have to go in person to one of the bank branches before you can get a digital certificate. Once having the certificate one can do a lot of things that we can;t here in US - online transfers, forex, etc
Agent: (slowly) May I help you?
User: I'd like to get a certified digital ID.
Agent: (slowly) Okay, please go to the back of the room and fill out form 2219. When you're done, please bring it back to the front.
User searches a while
User: Where's the form?!
Agent: (slowly) If it's not there, we're out. You can always call 1-800-ASK-USPS for more information.
User: But they told me to come here! You have to verify my ID!
Agent: (very slowly) I'm sorry, you'll have to speak to the manager. He's gone for the day. You'll have to come back Monday at 10 am.
User: AAAAIIIEEEEEEE!!!!! runs screaming from the post office
Yeah, this will be a big hit.
Definitely Verisign. The USPS doesn't think it's funny when they accidentally release your property to someone else (see also: sex.com). In fact, rumor has it that having the Postal Inspectors storm your house is not as funny as it sounds (i.e., 30 guys in attack armor carrying assault rifles vs. 5 guys like Cliff from "Cheers").
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
35922 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2003 / Notices
Dated: June 12, 2003.
D. L. Gamberoni,
Technical Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03Ð 15347 Filed 6Ð 13Ð 03; 11: 53 am]
BILLING CODE 7590 01 M
POSTAL SERVICE
In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program
AGENCY: U. S. Postal Service.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The USPS is announcing the
availability of an In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program to support
the activities of U. S. Certificate Authorities and government
organizations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chuck Chamberlain at 703Ð 292Ð 4172, or Brad Reck at 703Ð 292Ð 3530
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, a number of new federal statutes have sought to preserve the ability of the public and private sectors to use the efficiency of the internet to rapidly exchange time sensitive communications while assuring that
people receiving and sending messages are in fact who they say they are. A
number of top quality private sector businesses have mastered the
technology around the use of secure digital signatures, yielding a greater
demand for improved identity verification for individuals seeking to
use digital signatures. This need for improved '' online
identity'' creates a unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to
provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet
communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. Numerous
organizations have approached the U. S. Postal Service to conduct In-Person
Proofing (IPP) of customers nationwide for physically authenticating an
individual's identification at a post office before the organization issues a
digital signature certificate to the individual.
IPP supports efficient, affordable, trusted communications through the use
of identification verification at Post Offices, incorporation of process
enhancements required by the Postal Service, active management of the IPP
program by the USPS, and use of a First Class U. S. Mail piece to verify physical
addresses of applicants. We believe that IPP conducted at local post offices will
create a new broad based capability for the Nation that promotes improved public trust and greater efficiency in the
electronic delivery of a wide range of services. These efforts support achieving
the goals of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, Electronic
Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and numerous
Presidential Directives on eGovernment. The following is a brief description of
how IPP would work. An organization can establish a relationship with a
qualified U. S. Certificate Authority to integrate digital signing with improved
identity verification into an online application. Any individual desiring to
use digital certificates that include USPS IPP will complete an application
online. The online system will verify the individual's identity via commercial
data base checking. The system will then produce a standard Postal Service
form to be printed out at the '' applicant's'' personal computer. The
individual requesting the service will present this form to a participating post
office where the '' In Person Proofing'' process is conducted. After successful
completion of the IPP event, the CA will notify the applicant to download their
digital certificate. For clarity, the steps in the IPP process are outlined below.
1.0 DESCRIPTION
1.1 Purpose
IPP is a postal program to improve the public key infrastructure of the Nation.
The public key infrastructure has emerged as an accepted infrastructure
component for protecting and facilitating the electronic
communications of the Nation.
2.0 BASIC STANDARDS
2.1 Eligib
Bush is on fire and its not good for my lungs.
I am concerned that what begins as a voluntary initiative will one day become quasi-mandatory, like carrying a driver's license.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
I swear on my grandmother grave that I saw "In-Person Shooting" when I first read it.
A few less FPS games for me, I think. More Super Mario Sunshine and Animal Crossing for a while.
Well, I have a 5-day weekend ahead of me. You all play nice.
--- Ban humanity.
So the digital certificate could be used to validate the mail I sent really came from me? Oh, I'd just attach the certificate to the email? Oh, there's a central repository where all the email addresses I might use can be linked to the certificate? Oh, how lovely... and who would this repository be available to? Only the government? Oh grand. Sign me up!
This is just what I've been looking for!
(start playing the sad story music, if you have any - Michael Jackson stuff will work real well here)
You see, I've had sort of an identity crisis - not really sure who I am. The post office can finally change that. They can authenticate me, and authenticate who I am. No more wandering willy-nilly.
(at this point please begin playing some patriotic music to get the full effect of the message)
With the post office as my guide, I will rise to the brink of a better tomorrow and boldly go forth to face my dreams because I am authenticated!
Thankyou, US post office. The world is in your debt.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
1) How well will this work with other authtication techniques? (ie. if other postal systems start this, will there be interoperability? If so, who coordinates this?)
2) How good is the procedure to replace a lost/stolen certificate?
3) What good is this for people not in the US?
4) If someone lives in the US, gets one of these, and then moves, can it still be updated/replaced?
5) I forget the other question.
Granted, I only skimmed the article, so I may have missed the answers, but still....
Now, if that makes sense to anyone, could you please explain it to me? I think I've confused myself.
I know a guy who doesn't have X on his Debian machine, so he views all PDFs in console with some sort of PDF-to-Latin1 program. I bet blind people could use the same program.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It depends - this offers a way to get common certification available (ala Paladium) using a government as the trusted body and not Microsoft. That's a step up, but still not perfect considering the ammount of fraud (welfare, SS etc) that people still seem to get away with on the gov'ts watch.
If they combine it with a decent PGP style web-of-trust implimentation and let the user decide what weighting he wants to give to trusts he has assigned and those that the USPS has assigned then this could be a killer digital signature implimentation.
Beep beep.
All postal workers will be required to purchase one of the digital signature keys, allowing to verify their identity before reporting for work or going on a shooting rampage.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
Please tell me if I pulled a Rip Van Winkle here. But, when did the the USPS start controlling e-mail? Maybe I'm in the middle of some bizzar Owellian nightmare. Next thing you're going to tell me is that we've become a police state and a new Dept of the goverenment has been established to "watch" us.
Sheesh!
.sig
...and do it on time next time if I had a certificate. Then again, I don't know if I'd really want to give useless parcel service my name and number for a permanent database.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Not all email that doesn't originate in the USA is spam. Using this as a spam filter would balkanize Internet email and make it "domestic USA mail only" for US residents, and available internationally only for those who live elsewhere.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
Where's delete comment when you need it?
Must read titles more closely next time... Sorry.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
I can't trust that they can send a package without damagin/losing it. And now, I'm gonna trust them to properly identify people?
Great. Just great. Now I get to deal with the Post Office and Verisign when I want to lock down an SSL site.
Please shoot me.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
They got funded to develop a PKI infrastructure with real verification of identity for the EU.
I hate X.509. It's cumbersome and weird (that extra 'cert request' step), while also being functionally lame (only one signature, and you have to either completely trust it or not). Why anyone would want to use that when there's something so much better available (OpenPGP), is beyond me.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
GNU/Zentalon GNU/writes GNU/"The GNU/United GNU/States GNU/Postal GNU/Service GNU/has GNU/announced GNU/that GNU/it GNU/will GNU/provide GNU/In-Person GNU/Proofing GNU/(pdf) GNU/to GNU/physically GNU/authenticate GNU/individuals GNU/before GNU/a GNU/digital GNU/signature GNU/certificate GNU/is GNU/issued GNU/to GNU/that GNU/person. GNU/This GNU/has GNU/a GNU/bunch GNU/of GNU/interesting GNU/ramifications; GNU/for GNU/instance, GNU/I GNU/could GNU/create GNU/a GNU/simple GNU/spam GNU/filter GNU/that GNU/only GNU/accepts GNU/mail GNU/from GNU/individuals GNU/and GNU/organizations GNU/that GNU/have GNU/an GNU/authenticated GNU/certificate. GNU/It GNU/could GNU/also GNU/allow GNU/for GNU/more GNU/secure GNU/financial GNU/transactions. GNU/Anyone GNU/know GNU/if GNU/any GNU/other GNU/national GNU/postal GNU/services GNU/are GNU/planning GNU/the GNU/same GNU/thing?" GNU/Funny, GNU/they GNU/don't GNU/seem GNU/to GNU/always GNU/know GNU/where GNU/to GNU/deliver GNU/so-called GNU/first-class GNU/mail...
The other failing is it would be trivial to simply lie about the number - that is, if a number is required (just as an IP is now) then spammers will simply make one up. In order for a "valid" number to be required to traverse mail then every email would have to be authenticated through a central database. Thus, it's completely impractical as a means of reducing spam anywhere except the end user's mailbox. And we already have plenty of ways of doing that.
It IS useful, however, if you and I want to enter into a transaction without having to use the banking system. You send me merchandise, I send you cash - and if either of us defaults there is a reliable means of tracking the individual and holding them responsible. It's almost like a nationwide ebay ID in that "bad traders" can be reliably tracked and, therefore, blacklisted. On THAT level it's quite practical and, from the POV of one who refuses to use plastic, a welcome alternative.
Complaints will be handled by people too slow to work at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
I repeat the following story every time I hear someone insult a postal worker.
One day I needed to get something in the mail THAT day, and I wasn't able to get down to the post office. I caught the mailman as he was driving up to the mailbox, and handed him the letter. Except I didn't have enough postage- I had forgotten about the rate increase that had happened recently.
Now, if the guy had wanted to be an asshole, he could have refused it- but he said "you got any change? I'll put the extra postage on it when I get in" I had a quarter on me, gave it to him, and was happy that I had probably still spent less money than the gas it would have taken to get to the post office and back.
What bowled me over was that the next day, he parked, came to the door, and handed me change. I was blown away that he bothered for such a small amount, and had expected him to (rightfully, far as I was concerned) pocket the 15-20 cents for the trouble of having to 'buy' and slap on an extra stamp for me.
NOW, if you want to see how patient postal employees are, see what these guys did. It is incredibly funny(the part about the sender trying to argue they should get money BACK for shipping a balloon is hilarious), but there's a serious message in their absurd little experiment(which involved shipping bricks, hammers, dead fish+seaweed, etc), and I'll include their conclusion here:
First, this experiment yielded a 64% delivery rate (18/28), an almost two-thirds success rate. (For our purposes, "delivery" constituted some type of independent handling by the USPS and subsequent contact regarding the object, regardless of whether we got to see or keep the object or whether it arrived whole.) This is astounding, considering the nature of some of the items sent. This compares with a 0% rate of receipt of fully wrapped packages from certain countries of the developing world, such as Peru, Turkey, and Egypt. Admittedly, those were international mailings, and thus not totally comparable; nevertheless, the disparity is striking.
Second, the delivery involved the collusion of sequences of postal workers, not simply lone operatives. The USPS appears to have some collective sense of humor, and might in fact here be displaying the rudiments of organic bureaucratic intelligence.
Finally, our investigation team felt remorse for some of its experimental efforts, most particularly the category "Disgusting," after the good faith of the USPS in its delivery efforts. We sought out as many of the USPS employees who had (involuntarily) been involved in the experiment as we could identify, and gave them each a small box of chocolate.
We, and all scientists, owe a debt of gratitude to these civil servants. Without them, we would have had but little success in pushing the envelope.
Please help metamoderate.
Australia Post was looking at providing this service for it's "Gatekeeper" x.509 platform. It is also known as "RA" (registry Authority), and considering that Australia Post is already the "RA" for our passport applications - they would probably be the best suited too.
I don't think that X.509 has been "widely accepted by the community" yet... so I can't find any more details about it..
I would hazard to guess that the majority of consumer-level encrypted e-mail relies on PGP, not 3rd party-ca Issue certs. Thus, no uptake of certs for that reason. Most people probably don't even care if it's encrypted or not.
However, now that spam has become a major annoyance, and spoofed spam targeting best buy, paypal, and ebay users are causing fraud, there is perceived benefit from better secured e-mail services. If the USPS is successful is selling the benefit (i.e. certifiable, spam filtered mail), then perhaps we will start to see real adoption of 3rd party CA certs for consumers.
Just what we've all been waiting for, our government approved identity mark.
1 =P TO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.ht m&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,878,155.WKU.&OS=PN/5,878,155&R S=PN/5,878,155)
Tell us, will we be tattoed with it, and if so, will it be on the forehead or the right hand??
(http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect
If you don't believe it, go to the United States Patent Office website and search for APPROVED patent number 5,878,155
and or this, "Method for verifying human identity during electronic sale transactions"
It doesn't stop ANY of the TRAFFIC caused by spam. It's a worthless "solution" in that regard.
Market droid talk. If they are so good why does the post office need to get into it? Other talk about "demand", "unique service opportunity" and trusted computing has my back up. It's all so Microsoft sounding. But that's just the beginning.
They are going to use "comercial database checking", and the databases must be "Patriot Act Compliant". While the commmercial database check looks like coroprate welfare, it the Patriot act part looks like a land grab. What, besides any old G-man clerk having the athority to look at all of your data, constitues Patriot Act Complience?
The authentication method is first class mail. and a file that dissapears in four years. I'm not going to think very hard about all the ways to defruad the post and defeat this system, but mail fraud is still a common problem. The dissapering file is the real clincher. What "top quality private sector bussines" has a patent on DRM OS and has been touting files that expire as a means to "trusted computing"?
Having a certificate athority is good. Using that need as a means to nationalize software, usurp private databases, funnel tax money into private hands and foce everyone to use propriatory software is not good. The system needs to be run on proven free and open standards in a non-revocable manner.
The USPO is going to have to do better than that to win my trust. I've got one Microsoft machine for talking to an old camera and a scanner. I don't let it see the internet because it's so easy to break and own. Any plan that would force me to use software I don't trust for ecommerce is a plan I don't trust or want.
Two years ago, some moron told me that the US government would make it illegal to run anything but Microsoft software. He actually thought this was a good idea and was convinced it would happen. I told him that would violate the first amendment rights to free speech, and effectivly nationalize general purpose computing and such laws were laughably unAmerican. I'm not laughing anymore.
Someone tell me I'm just paranoid, please.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
My grandfather used to deliver mail back in the 60s or something, and my parents told me that at the time, you did NOT fuck with the Post Office. Don't know if that's more or less true nowdays, although the PR about it doesn't seem as good anymore.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Seriously, I'm guessing a whole crowd of black hats read that story and went "Hurray!".
I was actually one of the developers of this project (three years ago), and it is funny to see that they are finally "announcing" it.
The idea is simple, and it is actually a useful service that the USPS has the resources to provide, if they actually go through with it. Whereas SSL only authenticates the server (among other things, of course), the allocations for client authentication in SSL are optional and very rarely used. All the client needs for this is its own digital certificate, just like the server has its certificate.
So, to get an SSL certificate, we (whether we like it or not) trust the various CAs to make certain that they are granted to the rightful owners. When it comes to client certificates, the scope of the problem becomes much larger, because you are authenticating people rather than domains. If you fail to properly identify someone before issuing the digital certificate, the point is lost.
The USPS has post offices all over the US (their only country of concern in this case), and this fact provides the perfect platform for authenticating people. Just as with Passports, you must prove your identity in person before being authenticated.
How do the pieces fit together? Well, it is fairly simple, but it involves a lot of existing systems, some of which are aging. You register online (providing much personal information, including what forms of ID you will be bringing with you). This generates a letter that is sent to your address (verifying your address in the process). You take this letter to the post office, and if you pass the in-person proofing, the clerk scans the barcode on the letter. This scan makes its way back to the system in about 24 hours, and then your digital certificate is generated. An email is sent to let you know, and you can then download it from the Web site after logging in.
At any rate, I still think the general idea is a good one, and this would be a useful service for a lot of people. I hope it is successful.
"Funny, they don't seem to always know where to deliver so-called first-class mail ..."
No, not very funny. Rather clueless. Did you know that the USPS has domestic airlines carrying mail?
I can't even count the times I've found stray (or lost) bags of mail in aircraft. One of my many job functions when I worked for a ground handling company was to make sure that mail for Anchorage actually got *on the right aircraft* and didn't wind up on a flight to Miami. We'd actually check behind the belly toolbox on that old nasty DC-8 looking for mail bags.
Ever seen a 55' truck back up to a DC-6? Yes, folks. Bulk loading 33,000lbs of mail into a friggin DC-6 bound for northern Alaska.
Sure, mail gets lost sometimes, but it's not always the fault of the USPS.
For real joy, though, see what happens when you get caught by the Railroad Police. Sounds funny, but apparently it's decidedly not humorous at all.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
if he had've kept your 20 cents and someone found out, he would lose his job on the spot.
. SLASHDOT: Home of the vicious nerd.
Yeah?
Get FedEx to pick up a letter in White's City, NM and deliver it to Buttfuck Alaska in less than a week for 40 cents.
Ask UPS to deliver some RAM from your home in the middle of nowhere in Vermont to suburban Seattle in two days flat for $3.85.
Digital Signature!
Post office gets it to me
How soon it must die.
The USPS is dying fast and they know it. Despite "privitization" and "new" services, they are ill-equipped to compete against slicker, harder working private companies. Just visit your local PO to find the tired old gravy train mentality in the first person you meet as you walk in, no doubt after waiting in line for a long time.
Watch them try to reinvent themselves, all the while raising the price of stamps while cutting service and treating their staff like lifers. I walked into the local PO and tried to pay 3 years in advance on box rental and they had some reg that wouldn't allow more than a year in advance. That's after 3 visits to find the right person on duty (first was a Saturday, forgot why the second visit failed). Ditched them in disgust and went to Mailboxes, Etc, which was glad to oblige me.
This attitude and type of experience has occurred time and again. Fatass bastards, all of them. Die, USPS, Die!
It looks like this is just Verisigns way of getting the US Government to pick up the cost of personal verification. You will still be registered with some private CA. So much for the government big brother worry warts.
Having said that, the commercial big brother worry warts should continue to worry.
Likely identity theives would be quite proficient in "proving" to the USPS that they are you. This could make identy theft worse.
So every cert can be cached locally - that still means one bigass database (50 million people? 100 Million?) feeding cached local certs to the mail server for every email. And what do you do if the person isn't from the US? How many ISPs would be willing to declare all international email "undesirable?"
that slashdot would slam the USPS for its incredibly rare mistakes?
/. ran the postoffice, my mail would only get handled correctly about 4 out of 10 times. the good noes is, I would regularly get the same package twice.
If the people who ran
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Slow roasted goodness
And nowhere near 10% of the mail is lost. Puh-leeez. One out of 10 of your bills gets lost? Wow, that would really be a problem. But of course it's nowhere near that. When's the last time you actually had some mail get lost? Seriously.
And most postal workers I deal with are extremely nice, dedicated people, especially given the climate they operate within -- nasty "what have you done for me lately, I'm in a hurry, I shouldn't have to wait in line" snotty type people. YOU try putting up with that kind of customer attitude for a while and let's see how you turn out. DMV? The DMV sucks. USPS? The USPS is full of friendly, helpful folks, and always trying to improve. They don't deserve your rap.
It looks like that, but because the database must be "Patriot Act compliant" , it will be like the government owns the data anyway. This way they get all the information and get to subsidise their favorite "top quality private sector business".
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
96% conviction rate. It helps that they generally know where you live, but within thyre domain, they kick some ass.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
A more careful reading of the article indicates that the USPS plans to offer its post offices as digital signature identity proofing front offices to CAs.
The basic idea is that CAs can leverage the thousands of existing post office branches to outsource the hanling of the proofing services.
Of course, besides having their root certificate stored in Explorer and Netscape/Mozilla, the only other real competitive advantage of CAs has to do with their verification processes. Its not clear if they would be willing to outsource them. The USPS could then easily add its own root certificate to the popular browsers and eat their cake.
Funny, they don't seem to always know where to deliver so-called first-class mail ...
>
>
Talk to the people who work in the recieving departments at department stores like K-mart and WalMart and ask them how many times a week UPS and FEDEX drivers leave packages for the other store
with them because they can't be bothered to read the addressthat's on the package's shipping label.
Idoits like you need to get a *MAJOR* clue
about's what involved with deliving things
like first-class mail.
Then you'll realize you'll want outfits like
FEDEX and UPS to have absoulutely *NOTHING*
to do with it.
If you want credit you accept that you have to share some amount of personal inormation with the banking authorities. This would provide an alternative means of identifying oneself without having to take that step - but no one is forcing me to get credit. No one should be forced to sign onto this, either.
From the paper it appears "mandatory" would be a very long way off, if ever. So far it's full of disclaimers ("if the service proves popular") which makes the concept of this serving as a national ID a fairly distant probability.
When it comes down to it any system of accountancy is open for abuse - and not just from the government. Unless one has violated just law, exposing oneself to that potential should always be a matter of choice.
Mister Kramer, I'm not just a postmaster. I'm also a general.
Funny, they don't seem to always know where to deliver so-called first-class mail ...
But they never miss on all that junk mail, do they? What does this portend for e-mail?
Let's call it a 'Freedom Certificate'. All the yahoos that believe that the 'Patriot Act' means patriotism will suck it right up.
Only those people signed up & 'Authenticated' will be afforded the rights & freedoms described in the constitution. All others pay cash.
Unless you are suspected of a crime, of course, which will automatically 'entitle' you to a 2 year stay in the wonderful vacation facility of Guantanamo Bay.
Insert obligatory "the government wants to track you down/harvest your organs/make you a slave of corporate America" conspiracy theory here.
Saves vs. scathing retort.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Besides, $
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
so, the patent is aproved? in all likley hood, Heeter; Thomas W. (55 Lyerly, Houston, TX 77022) is just some guy with a good sense of humor. If I had thought about it, I would of applied, it pretty damn funny. Besides, if the devil is comeing to town, why not make a buck?
or perhaps he aplied for the patent to PREVENT it from happening?
As long as we have seporation of church and state, and freedomn of religeon, the mark of the beast will not come to pass.
now, if only it had someting to do with the original post.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Australia Post launched a product several years ago called Keypost aimed at individuals.
The company I worked for at the time (a large Australian provider of e-mail services) was looking into it as a solution to spam, and as a boost to e-commerce dealings. We probably had the clout to really put the product into the market, and we thought it what our customers were yearning for.
But, dealing with Australia Post was so incredibly difficult we gave up.
Besides obstinate and inflexible product people on their end, the product had some key flaws:
For instance, Keypost certificates were supposed to be issued the same way as passports, but for some reason required more ID (or more stupid ID rules) than a passport application did. (if you know anything about the Aussies, they hate over-burdensome ID rules).
Also, only a very limited number of Post shops were willing to run with Keypost.
As well (if not most importantly), the cost of Keypost was around 10 times an Australian Passport (at the time it was Keypost $99/annum vs around $100/ten years for a Aussie passport).
NOIE (The National Office of the Information Economy - an Australian govt office) runs gabfeests on the issue every so often, but nothing eventuates.
There is obviously demand: The Australian Tax Office gave up waiting for a public key infrastructure and set up it's own a couple of years ago, which most of the users (mostly small to medium size businesses) are very happy with. But it's only used to talk to and fro the tax office.
IMHO, demand's there, someone just has to force Post to get itself organised that's all. I think we'll all benefit.
M.
http://www.smartid.gov.hk/en/index.html
p e/ smartid/index.html
and so does Hong Kong Post.
http://www.hongkongpost.gov.hk/product/ecert/ty
Why not just use PGP encryption for this purpose.
Two levels of security:
1. Digital signature.
2. Public Key encryption.
As long as you keep your private key secure, others can download files encrypted by you and be sure the data is authentic.
I haven't played with the public key registries - but it would seem that it should be set up so that when you create an entry in the database, it would only allow someone who can authenticate as you (i.e. you generate a digital signature to login) to change your public key (this would elimenate identity theft).
Why reinvent the flippin' wheel?
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
Considering the vast size of the post office system and the fact that we have not invented machines that can deliver mail, the post office is actually pretty reliable. While I could end up one day the victim of a FCM dropout, in 29 years, it would be the first.
Anybody know what their loss rate is per amt of mail they transfer vs. say loss rate of UPS or fedex per their transfer numbers?
I'll bet they are within the same ballpark...
TurboD
Doesn't that imply he was that much more generous in his offer to add the needed postage? How easy would it have been to say, "I'd like to, but my job would be at stake."
the last (several) times i have moved, I've gone down to the post office, picked up an official postal change of address form, filled it out and mailed it back in.
as far as i can tell (and the USPS may have updated their policy since the last time i moved) there's no ID, or any kind of proof of identity for that matter, involved in filling out a change of address form. that, and no confirmation after the fact that it had been accepted and processed - other than your mail showing up at the new address with a big yellow sticker over the address. i.e. nothing to prevent someone filling out a form for somebody else
in fact, i read several years ago in a book of "dirty tricks and practical jokes" that a fun little prank to pull on someone you don't like was to fill out a change of address form for them - forwarding their mail to an address in another state. another fun one was to send a threatening letter to 1600 pennsylvania ave with their return address. postal inspectors *and* secret service when the prez is in town. fun for the whole family!
now, tell me they've updated this procedure - which used to be done with a simple mail-in form - or else tell me how i'm supposed to trust this same organization as an authority regarding someone's identity.
- Entertaining Bits from the Ancient Kernel Tree
since HP supports debian GNU/Linux on blades, I can't wait to see them preload it on a desktop
*only half Irony*
Delivery of a two-pound, 20"x15"x2" package from California to London:
UPS: $66 (2-5 days)
FedEx: $65 (4-5 days)
USPS: $15 (4-6 days)
You can guess who I went with. It took four days to get there.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
I'm curious when we may have access to a government approved digital time-stamping service?
Ever like to prove to somebody that a document existed at a certain date? "Mail it to yourself. It's got the postmark."
Well, besides the fact that this ploy would never stand up in court (it's too easy to steam the flap open), it's a good idea.
How about the USPS providing a digital document time-stamping service? What good time-stamps are availible out there that would stand a test at the patent office, for example???
If we can't screen out millions of illegal aliens who manage to come to the U.S. and present documents that are good enough to let them satisfy the government's requirements to prove to an employer that they are eligible to work in the U.S., how is this going to be better? If the answer is "better documents," how come we aren't requiring those better documents to be presented to the employers?
However, I was pleasantly surprised that the last time I moved, I got a confirmation letter -- one to each address. I don't know if that is a local thing (Boston area), or new policy.
Postal inspectors carry guns and can really fsck up the lives of anyone that crosses them. I wouldn't be against a system of guaranteed spam free email. Any commercial email would cost money so I wouldn't care if I received sales crap in it. Pay per send, fine $ to companies that don't send commercial email at commercial rates, jail repeat offenders, end of story.
Laws are for people with no friends.
Speaking as one who is in the process of moving right now (getting keys to the new apartment tomorrow morning), there actually is verification that it's been accepted and processed. You may not run into it if you don't file the change-of-address form pretty early, though, because it's sent to the old address. And, they're fairly clever about it. They account for the possibility that someone will send in the forwarding order late and someone else will have moved in their place before the confirmation is sent. Because of that possibility, they only list the address that the mail is forwarded from. Thus, the person who moves in after you may get your name, but they do not get your new address.
Just in case anyone cares, here's what the letter looks like:
So, yes, someone could play a trick on you, but you would at least find out eventually. Still, they could do a little better. They could provide a phone number (or web site) for you to submit a request; then they'd send a computer-generated form to the "from" address for forwarding; only by returning that form could you get the mail forwarded. Unfortunately, what would happen is that more mail would be lost this way, because in the chaos of moving, people naturally forget to forward their mail until after they've moved, and those people would never be able to get through the system...
After reading the article (quickly) I still have some questions:
1) What kind of certificate is being given? X.509?
2) What private information is kept by the user to be used to encrypt or sign data? In PGP you have a key that's usually thousands of bits long. I just read that X.509 certificates only use a password. If this is true, wouldn't it be a lot easier to crack? For example, by encrypting data with tiny passwords until a browser or e-mail program accepts it?
3) How is the private info given to the user? If it's in person when the user signs up, then it has to be randomly generated since no one at the office should see it. If it's sent in the e-mail notice for downloading the certificate, that can't be secure can it? So it must be given at sign-up in a sealed envelope right?
Hong Kong Post office is teaming up with the government to offer the same thing, this has been available for over a year now. Refer to this link.
The Hong Kong Government has recently roll out a renew plan for all citizens to renew their ID card (mandatory, must be on the person at all times). This new ID card is a smart card which also allow storage of digital cert.
Because of this mandatory ID, the cert roll out plan (storage and distribution) is relatively easier than other countries.
When you control the mail, you control ... INFORMATION!
I guess I should look into this some more, but when this was first announced a few years ago I couldn't understand the big deal -- as I still don't today.
Many companies send me paper invoices, which I like to keep for accounting and records purposes. And I can pay them all online, either by EFT/ACH (online banking) or credit card.
I don't think I've written a cheque for anything except rent in at least a year (well, and to my brother earlier today who just picked up a couple of 10/100baseT switches for me for dirt cheap).
-ben
myselfmusic
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I can verify this. My father works at one of the mail processing centers (the BIG post offices; several city blocks in size, not counting the parking lot), and every day multiple UPS and FedEx trucks pull up to drop off packages.
COOL!!!
;-)
Will Agent K show up himself???? He does have postal experience
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
Oh, that's too weird! Let's see:
THOMAS - 6 letters
HEETER - 6 letters
Wanna bet the middle name has 6 letters too?
We aren't requiring "better documents" because illegal immigrants drive down US wages. Corporations like lower wages because CEOs and other executives have a bigger pot of money to steal from. Our legislators don't care because these CEOs and other executives pay the bulk of their campaign funds (as well as "investigative trips" (vacation bribes) ). The CEOs and other executives OF COURSE tell them that undocumented illegalal aliens are a "GOOD" thing for Americans.
Ralph Nader and Ross Perot were right. They do seem somewhat mad on the surface but their predictions become reality.
After 9-11, you would expect that the Bush administration and their "homeland security" department would fight illegal, undocumented immigration. Nope, they could give a shit less. The "Homeland Security" department is just a sham excuse for consolidating government agencies more closely under the thumb of the president and abolishing protections for career civil servants.
Secure National "Smart Cards" would be a great way to:
* Secure our financial infrastructure and prevent identity theft and credit fraud.
* Allow the easy identification and deportation of illegal immigrants
* Increase our level of security, hence reducing the need for foreign "pre-emptive" military action.
So of course, neither Republicans nor Democrats would be in favor of it. Follow the money, I gauruntee that it doesn't trail back to ordinary Joe Americans.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
It shows promise, but I wish they would offer authenticated email services.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
Personally, I think you've already been tatooed on the head, with a RUSTY RABIES INFECTED NEEDLE!!!!!!
.... That, or you can tune into the 700 club where the Beast's smiling face is featured every afternoon begging for money to make everybody "like him". ;-)
The fact of the matter is that a "MARK" has been common in many transactions for centuries. Written signatures have been the most popular. This is simply a different type of signature.
Many people voluntarily mark themselves voluntarily through tatooes, brandings, and piercings.
One US right held pretty sacred is the right to your person. So don't get uptite about the return of the beast until you've seen a constitutional amendment saying that the state can dictate that you undergo body altering surgeries.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
Now that I have your attention, I would like to discuss the larger issue of Linux in general. It is time for us, fellow patriots, to look at our situation in the world on a global scale. Microsoft is an American company. Bill Gates started with nothing and built an empire. What is the problem here? We should be supporting American enterprise, not undermining it. The simple fact is that no true partiot would use Linux at all. In these hard times we must rally around our companies, our economy, and our president. If we let the 'Linux Community' have their way, we will all be at the mercy of the Germans making KDE, or the Japanese with their desktop. Do you plan to learn Japanese in the near future? You may have to, if we don't start poneying up to the bar and laying it down for our cause.
;-)
Dear Mr. Patriot (aka Anonymous Coward),
Your thesis is BULLSHIT.
First regarding the French. Yes, their modern military exploits (post Napolean) have been farsicle. However, they are still DAMN good cooks and nice people.
Beyond that, they did have one truly great military exploit. They provided invaluable miliatary assistance at the battle of Yorktown which effectively capped off the American Revolution. Without the help of the French Army and Navy, Yorktown probably would NOT have been possible (We had no Navy!!!). One could credibly claim that without the aid of the French, the revolution would not have been a success.
Regarding Microsoft. Microsoft (along with most other US corporations) employs a high level of H-1B, L-Z1 and other foreign non-immigrant Visa holders. They produce software world over and are effectively a "global corporation" with their headquarters in the US.
The best "open-source" stuff is coming out of Ximian which is located in Boston. Beyond that, if there were any particular political agendas in Linux, you could simply comment them out and replace them with "patriotic" code.
Seriously Anonymous Coward, you sound like the paranoid love child of John Ashcroft and Bill Gates. BTW, which one is the bitch, John or Bill????
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
I didn't have to look far to see the usual "postal service sucks" stuff. Heck, even the poster (as opposed to the submitter) couldn't resist offering a little jab.
These people obviously don't know what it's like outside the United States. yes, I live in the US and I was born here, but I have been around enough to know that the US is where I belong. And the USPS is a great example of why it's so great to live in America. As big as the country is, 2-3 days is usually enough to get mail from anywhere to anwhere (Continental US, of course). I mail things with absolutely no fear of anything getting lost, and I have never known of any situation where something was legitimately lost in the mail.
It's always been an excuse, and a useful one for certain people, since it's impossible to disprove (can't that a letter than can't be found and that wasn't tracked was ever sent). Anyway, I'm sure some people have had trouble with the postal service, and we've all had run-ins with specific postal workers who don't care about their jobs (just like at McDonald's and Kmart and every government office).
The only negative experience I ever had with the actual service was a long time ago... like 15 years or so. A letter had been accidentally "mutilated" on the way to my mailbox. That was their word, not mine. It had obviously gotten caught in some sort of machine and it was useable and readable. But it came sealed in a special plastic covering with an amazingly-apologetic statement, just going on and on about how much of a disappointment and an inconvenience they had been to me. I couldn't believe it.
Ok, I'm done ranting. Continue slamming the postal service all you want. Oh, and by the way, I think this is a good idea. This is an organization that has a high degree of trust and is available for everybody in the US to easily to the in-person visit. Brilliant.
RP
I hope I generate the key which gets signed, that way my computer has to be subverted for my identity to get forged.
If the CA generates the key (and lets face it, I don't really trust them and certainly not ALL the IT staff they will hire) I'd be afraid my private part might be stored, intercepted or otherwise harvested.
Since the implementation of the EU electronic signature directive in danish law in october 2000, the danish post offices has offered the same service to the CA's issuing qualified certificates. This is the only way to get a qualified certificate in Denmark. It has not been a success mainly due to two reasons: 1) practically no services requires that level of security in the registration process and 2) barriers for aquiring a certificate are too high (expensive and time consuming). Therefor the danish government has launched an alternative pki with very low access barriers. You can get a certificate at no cost and order it from home. Authentication is mainly coupled to your registered adress which is where the activating pincode i posted to. To push adoption, services that will demand use of this pki are supported financially and given technical conceptual support.
Danish banks are watching the market for federating identities, and in Sweden the banks identification of their customers are relied on for issuing certificates to swedish citizens.
Welcome to the Police State of Amerika
2'x4'x7' Package
gross wt. 24 lb.
FedEx 385.00
UPS 310.00
UsPs Go Away!
Greyhound Package express 41.85
Delivery 3 days S.F. to Denver area
Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
As a German (with national ID card) who's lived in the US quite a bit, I wonder how the Post Office is going to tell who you are. From personal experience I know that almost everyone at a US college has a fake drivers license. I got my drivers licence with a rental agreement as the crucial proof of ID; actually, it was proof of residence they were looking for, but nothing else was checked. With that, I got a credit card. And so on. With the whole US system of ID, it is absurdly easy to create a new identity.
So now the Post Office will certify... what exactly?
Just don't feed'em
Just call it Freedom Linux and continue to use it as usual. ;)
Lennart Regebro.
Paris, Freedom.
USPS Electronic Postmark page More about electronic postmark
[FR Doc. 03-15347 Filed 6-13-03; 11:53 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M POSTAL SERVICE In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program AGENCY: U.S. Postal Service. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The USPS is announcing the availability of an In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program to support the activities of U.S. Certificate Authorities and government organizations. EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2003. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chuck Chamberlain at 703-292-4172, or Brad Reck at 703-292-3530 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, a number of new federal statutes have sought to preserve the ability of the public and private sectors to use the efficiency of the internet to rapidly exchange time sensitive communications while assuring that people receiving and sending messages are in fact who they say they are. A number of top quality private sector businesses have mastered the technology around the use of secure digital signatures, yielding a greater demand for improved identity verification for individuals seeking to use digital signatures. This need for improved ''online identity'' creates a unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. Numerous organizations have approached the U.S. Postal Service to conduct In-Person Proofing (IPP) of customers nationwide for physically authenticating an individual's identification at a post office before the organization issues a digital signature certificate to the individual. IPP supports efficient, affordable, trusted communications through the use of identification verification at Post Offices, incorporation of process enhancements required by the Postal Service, active management of the IPP program by the USPS, and use of a First Class U.S. Mail piece to verify physical addresses of applicants. We believe that IPP conducted at local post offices will create a new broad based capability for the Nation that promotes improved public trust and greater efficiency in the electronic delivery of a wide range of services. These efforts support achieving the goals of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and numerous Presidential Directives on eGovernment. The following is a brief description of how IPP would work. An organization can establish a relationship with a qualified U.S. Certificate Authority to integrate digital signing with improved identity verification into an online application. Any individual desiring to use digital certificates that include USPS IPP will complete an application online. The online system will verify the individual's identity via commercial data base checking. The system will then produce a standard Postal Service form to be printed out at the ''applicant's'' personal computer. The individual requesting the service will present this form to a participating post office where the ''In Person Proofing'' process is conducted. After successful completion of the IPP event, the CA will notify the applicant to download their digital certificate. For clarity, the steps in the IPP process are outlined below. 1.0 DESCRIPTION 1.1 Purpose IPP is a postal program to improve the public key infrastructure of the Nation. The public key infrastructure has emerged as an accepted infrastructure component for protecting and facilitating the electronic communications of the Nation. 2.0 BASIC STANDARDS 2.1 Eligibility For a Certificate Authority (CA) to use IPP, the CA must incorporate the U.S. Postal Service In-Person Proofing Policy into their Certificate Policy. Conformance to the Postal policy includes: 1. Use of a Patriot Act compliant database vetting process to gain initial assurance of an applicant's identity before sending the applicant to the Postal Office for IPP. 2. Perform a verification of the applicant's physical
postal emplyees are not civil servants. They are postal employees, period. They work for the federally chartered USPS, and are in FERS, the federal employee retirement system--but they are not federal civil servants. I was a carrier for a year ( worst job I ever had) and I can vouch that most postal employees dont work too hard. Carriers and maintenance employees do--oh yeah. Try delivering mail for 9 hr straight on foot with no rest room use,,,,yes, I wish I had been a "civil servant".
that's not a bribe, and Postal Employees are not Federal Employees...they are USPS employees, under a union contract. But, yes, it is illegal for POSTAL employees to accept money for their own use---which is why, when i was a carrier, I would not knowingly accept mail with no postage on it.
"Dear USPS customer, in order that we may provide you with a digital ID, please fill out the 5 page form below, It is particularly important that you fill out all data regarding your racial background, so that in the interests of diversity we may add or subtract 'identity points', when we issue you your final ID. These points may be used for job interviews and price discounts at USPS branches nationwide!!"
I think that devices such as these could work to our advantage but I personally think that with all of this technology we're putting a limit on life and turning ourselves into computers.
Thank you.
We are Federal employees when it benefits the Postal Service and then we are Postal employees when it benefits the POstal Service. Other than that, the Post Office thinks its employees are scum.