This won't change. The article starts:
> Japan Post said Monday that it has launched a "digital address" system that links seven-digit combinations of numbers and letters to physical addresses.
Their proposal is useful when one wants to move addresses.
I don’t think they’re saying that the system is intended to replace old addressing but that the new proposed system is fine because the old addressing system, like this new one, is not very good at providing intuitive physical wayfinding anyways.
Also useful for anyone who wants their personal residence recorded in less databases
Yeah but now it's a personal identifier that actually moves with you when you move to a different physical address. In terms of privacy, that might just be worse.
How do you plan to order anything from an online shop without the shop knowing your delivery address?
You put a trusted intermediary (JP Post) that knows the address in the middle, and provide the seller with an identifier that the intermediary can associate with your physical address.
That’s already how it works if you buy something trough the online marketplaces here - Mercari et. al.
Mercari knows addresses of all counterparties, but the label that the seller puts on the package doesn’t have the destination address, and the label the package has when it reaches your door doesn’t have the seller’s address either.
Doesn't it just give the shop a way to fetch the full address from some public API? I don't think you can just jot down that number on a box and have it delivered.
> Under the system, users can input these seven-digit codes on online shopping websites, and their addresses will automatically appear on the sites.