Comment by cdjk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cdjk | Hacker News Reader

Other people have commented on the payment issue - I'm glad you're looking into bitcoin.

I'd be worried about delivery, too. I know you say you destroy customer information immediately, but if I'm truly paranoid I'm not going to trust that statement - I'd rather pay someone on craigslist to buy a bunch of prepaid phones for me.

I'm just brainstorming, but would it be possible to set up some sort of physical tor/mixmaster style forwarding that would keep the final destination of the phone from ever being known to you? I'm not entirely sure how that would work, and it would probably be open to abuse, but it's an interesting thought.

Also, could you consider posting something like rsync.net's warrant canary?

http://www.rsync.net/resources/notices/canary.txt

It's not perfect, but it is a nice touch.

Shipping is tricky, but as someone go has worked at medium and large firms, I know what I'd do. Ship to some random company using their street number, with a fake recipient name. Walk in to the reception, explain that you addresses something wrong, show a fake ID and get the parcel. The number of issues with stuff being posted, misaddressed etc are huge at a decent sized company. There are always random parcels sitting around, couriers collecting, swapping, and delivering. I'm sure this isn't foo proof but its what I'd do.

Regarding delivery - Maybe something like a BufferBox paid for with cash/bitcoin? Does this exist?

I think they're called "vending machines". ;)

A bitcoin-accepting vending machine would be very cool, but that requires that you live near one. Setting up shipping seems a lot easier than creating a nation-wide vending machine network.

Why would you prefer bitcoin over cash for anonymity at a vending machine?

Good point. Managing cash for a vending machine with high-value items seems like it might be a pain. I know there are various ipod vending machines around, but I assume most people use a credit card for those. But I suppose feeding some 20s isn't too hard.

I didn't think about high value items. That's a good use case for bitcoin at vending machines.

Maybe I've missunderstood BufferBox. Is there some sort of short-term PO box you can pay for with cash? Can you pay for a normal PO Box with cash and w/o ID?

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