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Finland to do away with regular snail mail; replaces postal service with scanned email copies
In a move to reduce CO2 emissions and number of postmen required, Finland is about to do away with regular mail -- instead, mail will be opened, scanned and delivered digitally to its recipient.It could only happen in one of the most cold and sparse nations in the world -- Finland has a population of just 5 million, and only Iceland has a more-northerly capital than Helsinki -- but if it takes off, who knows where this could lead? You can't fault the logic of the idea, that's for sure. Year-round daily delivery of mail to unpopulated areas, over fjord, snow, and mountain can't be easy, efficient or safe. Digital delivery almost sounds... sensible.
This is just a trial, though, for 126 households and 20 businesses. There are obviously security concerns -- the service is 'highly automated', but there are still humans involved in the opening and scanning of mail -- but anyone that claims it's less secure than normal mail is crazy. If anything, security would be improved by a reduction in points of failure: less employees! No curious postman handling your letters during the delivery!
"This is totally different from email. It is comparable to web banking," said Tommi Tikka, a director at Itella, the state-owned company which runs postal service. And you know what... I believe him! This is a great idea! And for those of you that still write love letters by hand (seriously, Flash animations are so much more romantic), get this: the original mail is still delivered, but just twice a week instead of daily!
Faster, convenient, safer and better for the environment. What're we waiting for?!
Comments
22
Subscribe to commentsJayApr 5th 2010 1:03PM
Uh... you did see the date stamp on that article right? 01 April? April 1st? April fools day? I'm just suggesting that maybe a call to Itella or the Finish postal service for verification would be a good, responsible thing to do...
Sebastian AnthonyApr 5th 2010 1:04PM
Looking at the news sources that ran this, it's probably real -- but I'll check it out :)
JayApr 5th 2010 1:06PM
A quick scan of Itella press releases doesn't show anything. I checked that before posting :)
Sebastian AnthonyApr 5th 2010 1:20PM
I can't imagine a source like AFP would post an April Fool though...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jTlosv9uqU7jQUMPogpOKouzppMA
Read the quote from the Tikki guy -- insisting it's not an April Fool!
Android underlingApr 5th 2010 1:11PM
"...but anyone that claims it's less secure than normal mail is crazy..."
How am I crazy if I believe this is less secure then regular mail? I would rather take my chances with the occasional sooping mail man, then I would with having every single one of my letters opened.
You cant call people crazy when you have no evidence or statistics on mail getting opened by the mail man on route to your home.
That said, this is a pretty neat idea. I just dont like how they are going about it.
Sebastian AnthonyApr 5th 2010 1:22PM
Well, normal post sorting involves humans too!
It's not difficult for a postal worker to steal letters, if they wanted to. Now imagine how many times the letters change hands -- how many potential security holes -- and then compare with the digital system :)
Of course, the fact that the contents of these letters are being STORED digitally is tricky. But... so is a lot of data.
Eric J.Apr 5th 2010 4:00PM
Why is this less secure even though there are fewer points of failure?
The traditional method requires a breach of policy and protocol in order to expose my data to anyone but the sender and receiver. The new method exposes the data in the course of the normal procedure.
sodapopApr 5th 2010 8:07PM
@ Eric J. - this is less secure because 1) digital transmissions can be "copied" without the user ever knowing (versus a torn envelope) 2) digital copies are bound to be kept (a deposit to hack into) 3) Several people will be able to access the content where with a sealed email on the the sender and receiver.
Sure, someone could intercept an paper envelope, but it requires much more obvious and observable effort to conceal that leaves a trail of physical forensics .
HibernicaApr 5th 2010 1:21PM
I've long thought postal services should do something similar, though possibly a less extreme version. My thinking was that for some communications, rather than printing millions of copies in the capital and trucking them out, why not email to secure printers within each sorting office and deliver from there? Of course, the real cost of mail is the final mile, but I'd guess there would still be overall savings. This could apply for government communications, adverts and most mass-mailings. The further level, of putting a secure printer in every home, isn't feasible for the foreseeable future.
Sebastian AnthonyApr 5th 2010 1:23PM
Ya! That's not a bad idea either.
They used to have Telex machines in the office/home, eh :)
Mark BApr 5th 2010 1:51PM
I'd think that this could *only* work in a place like Finland. Consider this: Finland has like 5 million people, Helsinki (the capital) has about 1 Million.
However, everywhere else, there's like only 2 people every square km. For the people who aren't in urban areas, I'm betting that they don't receive frequent visits from the postman (if at all) and the prospect of DAILY mail is welcomed, along with being waaay cheaper for the gov't.
fadaoeApr 5th 2010 2:04PM
How about my mexican friend sends me money ?
No use of scanned euros
Gardiner WestboundApr 5th 2010 3:25PM
Some Canadian businesses have started charging a fee for bills sent by post, typically $2.50 each. So far the gouging is restricted to government protected monopolies.
sodapopApr 5th 2010 8:02PM
My problem with PDF bills is that *I* have to go to half a dozen websites, log in (ie find my login and password), find the bill, and save it to some place that I won't lose it (ie back it up)... then print it (not saving trees). Every month; on different days.
All these companies are doing is displacing the cost of labor to the individual while they continue to charge for it!
It might be a little different if they emailed the PDF to us and it was a simple task to weed it out of the spam and print it. Sure, most of us, here can do that, but if the average American is just not that savvy.
Versus the old way: it comes in the mail and I put it in a pile where it stays until I open it once a month.
fiendsanApr 5th 2010 3:30PM
and packages? this is equivalent to what is done now in a lot of countries (including mine, Portugal), companies start sending the utility bills by e-mail and such, and that's always a good idea, so for business it could be pretty cool, but for everyone else we send mail for personal reasons, letters, postcards and for packages and for these a digital copy isn't a good replacement... even in Finland...
ordoApr 5th 2010 4:33PM
@jay: this is *not* a joke. I know, 'cause I live in Finland. This was publicized in Finland already on Tuesday, March 30th.
@fiendsan @fadaoe: The idea is that non-scannable mail (weekly magazines, money and such) are delivered about once a week by a real postman.
Would I want someone to open my bank statements, taxation documents, health records? Answer: No, never. The only clever thing to do is to persuade *senders* to start using e-mail more than now, not letting the postal service go through people's personal mails. The postal service has one single duty: to deliver mail. If they refuse to do that in the name of cost-efficiency we probably need more competition in this field...
Sebastian AnthonyApr 5th 2010 8:06PM
Ah, hello, Funlander!
Good point, re: senders taking on the responsibility. You're right, the postal service shouldn't be the one doing the digitising.
But as mentioned further down, we'd have to make things easier -- right now you have to log into multiple services to get the data/forms/invoices you need. It needs to be centralised, just like your postal mailbox at home!
TurboFoolApr 5th 2010 5:17PM
See, I think this makes perfect sense from the perspective of forcing those with concerns about privacy to switch to electronic communication. Don't like your mail being opened? Complain to the provider that they need to switch to digital. Once enough people do, that's one less company sending paper mail to be scanned. It could eventually change all delivery to parcels only.
im10erApr 6th 2010 2:42AM
How is this any different than saying, "You can only use e-mail from now on.... except we'll charge you per e-mail.... and someone is reading your letter before it gets to you". The post office will be doomed.
sodapopApr 5th 2010 7:53PM
It might work for a small country, but in the USA (where there are more people in one city - NY, NY - than Finland). This is a nightmare. Plus, we forget how many *jobs* will be lost, how much *revenue* will be lost and that *electricity* is not environmentally friendly.
This doesn't just change the mail delivery, it changes advertising (a huge industry), brochures, catalogs, the printing industry, greeting card companies.... The list goes on. Just imagine the sever increase in the cost of sending a package!
And I agree - say goodbye to any private correspondence, *especially* in Europe.