This is the Internet, after all, so I will be corrected if I'm wrong.

911 is based on MSAG (Master Street Address Guide), not USPS. However, many operators are likely using the USPS system to sanitize the inputs.

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Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions
http://www.ics-il.com

Midwest-IX
http://www.midwest-ix.com

From: "Mike Lewinski via NANOG" <nanog@nanog.org>
To: nanog@nanog.org
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 1:58:20 PM
Subject: RE: Correcting national address databases?

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/