National Change-of-Address National Change-of-Address Linkage SystemLinkage System
--NCOANCOALinkLink
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NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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PURPOSE OF TODAY’S BRIEFING
Advise you of a new, secure change-of-address technology developed by Address Management
Demonstrate how NCOALink supports current USPS® (United States Postal Service®) and Mailing Industry Task Force initiatives
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SECURE DATA STORES BREAKTHROUGH “TECHNOLOGY”
NCOALink represents a breakthrough technology for securely storing data
Massive volumes data can be released in a manner that allows “revelation” to occur only in accordance with presentation of valid “authorizing” request
USPS has a patent application being processed for this new technology
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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Value of the National Change-of-Address Program:
“Conversely, the rehandling costs avoided by USPS in FY 1998 as a result of not having to forward mail when individuals, families, and businesses move was estimated at $1.194 billion.” 1
1 Grant Thornton LLP Performance Audit of the National Change of Address Program, March 1999, Contract # GS-23F-8196H, Pg. 4(Performed on Behalf of the Office of Inspector General)
NATIONAL CHANGE-OF-ADDRESS (NCOA)
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SAMPLE NCOA CHANGE-OF-ADDRESS DATA
OLD SIDE
JIM WILSON5891 PLUM VALLEY DRMEMPHIS TN 38141-6826 (91)
NEW SIDE
512 KING RIDGE DR COLLIERVILLE TN 38017-1705 (12)
This example represents a typical customer change-of-address. This is also typical of the “text’ representation shown in NCOA.
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SAMPLE NCOALINK CHANGE-OF-ADDRESS DATA
OLD SIDE
Not present withinNCOALink data format
NEW SIDE
a7 52 f2 22 0a
This example represents what a typical customer change-of-address will look like within the NCOALink System.
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SECURE HASH ALGORITHM (SHA)
The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a FIPS standard, data encoding technique that produces a mathematical value unique to every name/address combination presented
To build the NCOALink database, we combine the customer name and pertinent address data:
JIMWILSON38141682605892000
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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STANDARD HASH ALGORITHM
We then generate a SHA of the information, producing our “NCOALink Search Key”
Hexadecimal Representation: (20 Bytes)
80 e8 10 8d c4 ea 0d 2a 41 8c8e 99 56 86 8b c3 9c 1a c8 63
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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“HIDING THE NEW SIDE ADDRESS DATA”
This is the NCOALink KEY that will be used: By USPS to install data representing customer’s
new address into 8 separate hash tables By customer to retrieve the data required to
reconstruct the new-address text
No physical relationship between the data stored into the 8 tables exists
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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“RETRIEVING THE NEW SIDE ADDRESS”
Customer processes their address data according to USPS prescribed method:
Generates SHA using name and address data the same way USPS did in creating the NCOALink database
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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RECREATING THE NEW-ADDRESS INFORMATION
After the new-address DPBC is derived, a reverse lookup into the ZIP+4® database using the DPBC produces the new-address text:
38017-1705-12
512 King Ridge Dr
Collierville TN 38017-1705
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SATISFIES OF GAO RECOMMENDATIONS
Removes potential that Change-of-Address information can be “data-mined”
Complies with Title 39 prohibition and Privacy Act restriction regarding release of name and address data
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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EXTERNAL SECURITY EVALUATION (EXCERPT)
“Using only the NCOALink files it is considered completely infeasible (that is essentially impossible) for anyone to directly reconstruct the COA files (name, old address, new address and associated data).”
“The possibility of forwarding mail in error when it should not be forwarded due to the design of the COA/Link system has been assessed as negligible (essentially zero).”
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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EXTERNAL SECURITY EVALUATION (EXCERPT)
“This is an improvement (in terms of security) and a 1000 times better than the current system.”
“Using only the NCOALink files it is considered infeasible to unambiguously reconstruct even one output record.”
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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USPS Transformation Plan Growth through Added Value to Customers
Work with customers … to improve the overall accuracy of address information
SUPPORTS KEY USPS/MAILING INDUSTRY INITIATIVES
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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Mailing Industry Task Force To make the mail channel increasingly competitive
with other communications media… improving address qualityEncourage mailers to use methods to correct
addresses prior to mail entryDetermine if it is feasible to establish a linkage
between “intelligent” mail and address quality
SUPPORTS KEY USPS/MAILING INDUSTRY INITIATIVES
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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SUPPORTS PMG “KEEPING OUR FOCUS”
KEEPINGKEEPINGOUR OUR
FOCUSFOCUS
IMPROVING SERVICE4. Develop new systems
MANAGING COSTS
3. Must show we are doing everything possible
to hold down our costs and theirs
GROWING REVENUE5. Develop new products and services
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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MILESTONES
Concept to mitigate risks Provisional Patent Third Party Security Evaluation Alpha Test with NCOA vendor Internal USPS strategy team Beta Test with NCOA vendors Pilot Test (in process) Price Determination Legal Document/license Data Sets Commercially Available
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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ALPHA TEST DELIVERABLES
Evaluate the ease of building an interface Confirm the product does work (does produce
changes of address and is secure) Validate that the operation of NCOALink does not
“break” any existing systems Submit recommendations for improvement to
development or developer guide documentation
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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BETA TEST DELIVERABLES
Evaluate the ease of building an interface Parallel test with NCOA processing Evaluate “NIXIE” codes Evaluate throughput and minimum computer
requirements Submit recommendations for monthly reporting
requirements Submit recommendations for improvement to
development or developer guide documentation
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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PILOT TEST DELIVERABLES
Determine processing times per platform Compare results from NCOA to NCOALink
Modify product based on results of pilot Provide feedback for performance requirements and reports
NCOALink PRODUCT OVERVIEW
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STEPS IN PROCESS
Determining pricing Working with vendors Developing license agreements
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NEXT STEP
Release product July 1, 2003