China is giving everyone a personal postcode so delivery drones can find them The codes will make automated deliveries cheaper and easier as China contends with an aging population. One day, self-driving cars and drones could be responsible for delivering packages to your door. And in China, it could become easier than ever for the machines to find people thanks to unique personal postcodes.
China is developing a Personal Address ID-code, which links to a person’s address. Part of the push for these codes comes from the fact that they’re easier for machines to interpret. The digits can also be represented by QR codes, a popular way of transmitting information in China. The ease of use means it could cut costs for delivery companies, whose customers are increasingly turning to e-commerce.
The Beijing Youth Daily cited experts saying the codes could help reduce delivery personnel by 41% and delivery costs by 44%. It will also provide more accurate location data to delivery drones and self-driving delivery cars, helping to speed up automation in the delivery industry. The ID code scheme also has some worried about privacy. The State Post Bureau said at a seminar that the Personal Address ID database is a “public information platform” because “data resources are national resources.”
Source: Abacus News