On May 30, 2024, at 10:12 AM, Christopher Paul via NANOG <nanog@nanog.org>
wrote:
>
> I propose that there be a national LDAP service, with OUs for each zipcode
> (ou=20500,dc=us,dc=gov). A household could register at USPS.gov and then be
> given
> write access to a household OU ("ou=1600 Pennsylvania Ave
> NW,ou=20500,dc=us,dc=gov").
> The household OU could then create inetOrgPersons under that, each of which
> would have
> self-write access.
Your schema is probably good for 99% of the population. I do wonder though if
USPS is the right / sole agency to maintain. Having 911 dependent on an
incomplete database seems unwise. Or is it ALI? Not sure if it was Verizon's
front end or back end that was the real problem there.
The first time I encountered the problems of living in a place with no postal
delivery I had a related challenge which was to obtain a new driver's license
(along with updating vehicle registration and voter registration). New Mexico
requires two proofs of current residential address which for good reasons
cannot be a PO Box. The house I was renting was fairly new and I don't think
USPS knew it even existed. There were no road signs or house numbers posted.
The first time that I visited it the landlord rode along and gave me
turn-by-turn directions. There was an address on the lease I signed, but I had
no way to verify it corresponded to the property I visited. In fact later I
learned that the lease was copied from a template and the address had not been
updated (when even property owner gets it wrong, what hope does a bureaucrat
have?)
It took multiple trips to the MVD to obtain a license, being turned away
several times for insufficient paperwork. I had no utility bills for an
off-grid home with no postal delivery. In the end they accepted a copy of the
lease (which I had to photoshop to show the correct address) and a statement
from the bank. But wait... where did the bank get my address? I gave it to them
verbally and they accepted it as fact. Some time after getting my ID I found a
document issued by the county that assigned a street address to the house for
emergency/law enforcement purposes. To my knowledge that is the one and only
official documentation of the address.
It was around this time (2012) I first became aware of an impending REAL ID
requirement that the state was rushing to meet. The paradox of having to
manipulate the system to prove my actual residence to obtain a more secure &
state-mandated ID card was not lost on me. I never did try to update 911
location when I lived there.
This situation of USPS vs 911 vs DMV vs. bank vs. insurer vs. county
assessor/elections vs. ? reminds me a little of "Gay marriage: the database
engineering perspective" (
https://web.archive.org/web/20170118114056/https://qntm.org/gay ) and if I were
tasked with creating a grand unified address database all those entities could
use I'd be studying it and probably also Wes Kussmal's "The Sex Life of Tables:
What happens when databases about you MATE?"
Can I have two entries for two residences? How/who decides which is "primary"
for income tax purposes then? Can I have zero entries for being unhoused but
have a cell phone and potentially need 911 services? If I'm paranoid can I
opt-out of that for mental health reasons? Can I delete an entry my parents
added after I'm disowned, preferably without setting up a forwarding entry?
I guess the current state of REAL ID should quash any hopes I have for
resolving even the relatively simpler problem of 911 USPS location dependency.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/real-id-deadline-will-never-arrive/678370/
