Submitted by __0 in security_culture
Is there something equivalent to an onion router for sending parcel mail anonymously, would such a thing even be possible? I can see there being a problem of not being able to confirm if a package was lost or never sent at all, Would something like an open sneakernet ever be a thing?
throwaway wrote (edited )
This has been discussed before, both on the dark web and some clear-web forums.
Right now, your best bet is either going for General Delivery if you're using USPS, although that doesn't hide your name, using a PO box or having it mailed to a trusted friend.
An optimal system would be one where both parties communicated through a platform and had a shared secret generated and associated with their identities, which were encrypted and stored. The package could then be delivered to a pickup point, where the identity could only be verified against the encrypted details, and not reversed (there's plenty of cryptographic tools for something like this, ala PGP).
Turns out that a system like this is, although practically not very challenging, almost impossible to put in place, mostly because no existing postal company would want to support such a thing for fear of illegal dark web deliveries and such.