PAF Postcode Thread 1952233 Disappeared

isofa

So where did this go, I wrote a long reply to it this morning?!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1952233

John_Gray

Perhaps it has been put on the Naughty Step?

isofa

LOL well there was nothing in the content to breach any forum rules and it had lots of replies... (just a general discussion about the government offering the PAF, whereas Royal Mail have sold it for years).

Lakeuk

Lesson - grab while the iron is hot :beer:

I assume it was pulled due to the links

isofa

Lakeuk wrote: »

Lesson - grab while the iron is hot :beer:

I assume it was pulled due to the links

The point is, it was a good discussion about a current news story and it disappeared.

Had links to a government story, news link I believe and the royal mail.

Just don't understand why legit threads vanish without trace sometimes, whereas we all have to moan and report spam before it's removed.

bat999

The story is still there on the Guardian's website, but the link to wikileaks doesn't seem to be working.
The file's still available to download from a well-known Swedish website.

isofa

Oh I didn't realise someone had posted a link to the file or anything dodgy, just the Guardian story.

Still if they did ( and I didn't see it), why wasn't their post removed and not the whole thread discussing a current topic?

[I use the PAF file for business all the time, so it's an area of expertise! Hence my posts explaining the costs and reasons it's been available commercially for years, how it's used etc. The OP was surprised to hear the data was going to be made available, but it has been commercially available for as long as I can remember... You can buy software and tools from the Royal Mail and from many other suppliers to link into all sorts of business systems.]

sandiep

Also consider that the credibility of the PAF is reduced due to Royal Mail's management. Royal mail take addresses off the PAF if they are unoccupied for 3 months, purely because their direct mail customers complain when mail is delivered to empty properties, and because the sorting office then end up with loads of surplus excess mail.

Thing is, the property is still there, it hasn't been demolished, but according to PAF no longer exists. So, just hope that your not in a holiday home and needing medical attention, because the emergency services are using PAF data that they royal mail that tells them that that holiday house doesn't exist.

Oh, and anyone moving into a house struck off the PAF by royal mail is going to have fun getting back on the electoral role, and applying for credit, utilities, even a wheelie bin.

Maybe not a big issue if you live in a populated area. But, if you're in a rural village a much bigger issue. Royal mail has already wiped out about 1/2 of the village of Applecross.

john_s_2

The Guardian article says:

"The upshot: this is a really useful database, for particular applications. Why isn't it in the public domain, without copyright restrictions?"

Erm... maybe because it costs Royal Mail an awful lot of money to keep it up to date? It is essential for their business so they have to have it, but they don't have to make it available (even at a price). They're perfectly at liberty to charge money for it.

Royal Mail are doing a good enough job on their own of driving themselves out of business. They don't the likes of the Guardian to help them on their way.

Lakeuk

Interesting story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7700621.stm

AirCooledHeaven

isofa wrote: »

[I use the PAF file for business all the time, so it's an area of expertise! ]

Out of interest what do you use it for? As I understand it it's just the geographical location of any postcode??