Xinhua Insight: Bumpy road for real-name parcel delivery

A new government directive requiring parcel delivery companies to take senders' personal information and check the contents of their packages has been poorly received by both couriers and the public, with evidence of it being widely disregarded.

From Sunday, delivery companies have had to record senders' real names, ID numbers and contact details, after several letter bombs killed at least seven people and injured dozens more in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Under the new policy, all parcels must be X-rayed.

It is unpopular with the companies because it slows down their work (and therefore loses them money) and with the public, who dislike the extra hassle and fear for the security of their personal information.

It is perhaps little surprise that it is not being followed.

Reporters for the local Huashang Newspaper had no trouble getting five major courier firms in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to accept parcels with banned items like lighters and alcohol on the first day of the policy's would-be implementation.

According to a report carried by the newspaper on Monday, parcels with fake sender names were also accepted and most couriers failed to check what was inside the packages.

An investigation by Xinhua reporters in Zhejiang, Yunnan and Jilin yielded similar results.

Where the policy is being implemented, couriers are already complaining about the new time-consuming tasks.

Liu Xi, a courier with an STO Express branch in Beijing, said he collected only a dozen parcels Sunday morning, half of the usual amount."Customers have been freaking out because they are worried about information leaks," he said.

PRIVACY CONCERNS

While officials argue that the real-name policy can help guarantee security, rampant trade in personal information has made the public wary of handing over their details.

In 2013, the parcel tracking numbers of major delivery firms including STO, Yunda and YTO were leaked and sold online.

More than three quarters of people surveyed by the Internet Society of China reported their personal information had been leaked at some point.

Such incidents were responsible for scams and junk mail resulting in economic losses of more than 80.5 billion yuan (about 12.7 billion U.S. dollars) last year, or roughly 124 yuan per member of China's population, it said.

"The couriers usually put your ID number in a notebook in the daytime and enter it into computers at night all at once, so how can they guarantee the safety of my information in the process? And what happens if they sell it on to other people?" asked a woman surnamed Wang from Yunnan.

Zhou Bogen, executive vice president of Yunda Express, said a parcel usually goes through lots of hands before it reaches the receiver, posing obvious risks to information security.

"STRICT CHECKS IMPOSSIBLE"

Meanwhile, couriers are having trouble checking all the parcels.

Staff are thin on the ground in rural logistics centers so it's "impossible to have strict checks," said Song Yu, president of Hongyuan Logistics Company in Jilin Province.

The cost of x-ray scanners is another stumbling block. "The equipment is expensive and has not been widely applied," Song said.

Using high-tech equipment not only increases companies' costs but also slashes their efficiency, complained Kong Maohua, secretary-general of Jilin's Logistics and Purchasing Association.

It is not delivery companies' responsibility to verify customers' personal details, Kong said, "so there need to be more specific regulations if this new measure is to be implemented."

He called for a system that would see people blacklisted if they send illegal items or leak personal information.

Others have no time for Kong's concerns. "Safety is the most important thing in the delivery industry," said Guo Junhua, an economics professor with East China Jiaotong University. "Even though more checks have slashed efficiency currently, they will contribute to the sustainable development of the industry." Endi