Re: GeoIP database issues and the real world consequences

[Jeremy Austin <jhaustin () gmail com>]

On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 3:55 AM, John Levine <johnl () iecc com> wrote:

> Please don't guess (like, you know, MaxMind does.)  USPS has its own
> database of all of the deliverable addresses in the country.  They
> have their problems, but give or take data staleness as buildings
> are built or demolished, that's not one of them.


A qualifier.

USPS has a database of *most* of the deliverable addresses in the country.

I'm in an unorganized borough. The USPS actually has no mandate, funding or
lever that I can pull (that I can find) to keep their database up to date.
Easily 30% of the legitimate addresses in my area are not geocodable nor in
the USPS database.

I suspect that there are areas of my state with an even worse percentage of
unavailable data.

UPS and FedEx rely on the USPS database, but will not lift a finger to fix
this gap.

Even as a municipal body there is no available federal mechanism for
updating the database. I've tried multiple times over 15+ years.

</rant>

So yeah, USPS' database does have its problems.

-- 
Jeremy Austin

(907) 895-2311
(907) 803-5422
jhaustin () gmail com

Heritage NetWorks
Whitestone Power & Communications
Vertical Broadband, LLC

Schedule a meeting: http://doodle.com/jermudgeon