Stop junk mail before it fills your mailbox or follows you after you move.
Junk mail is not random. It is tracked, updated, and pushed to your mailbox using a postal system designed to help advertisers find you after you move.
That ends here.
I’m a software engineer who used to work for the biggest junk mail company on the planet — who shall remain nameless. I know how the machine works. I know how it follows you. And I know how to fight back.
When you file a permanent change of address with the post office, your new address gets entered into an automated system that junk mail companies use to keep their lists current.
That is the real reason junk mail follows you from home to home.
For the mail you actually want, you notify people directly. Friends, family, banks, government agencies, and utilities need to hear from you personally. But junk mail companies love the automated postal system because it saves them time, money, and effort.
We built this to fight back.
First, create a black hole for your junk mail on this website. A black hole is a virtual mailbox with a real street address, built to stop junk mail from reaching your home.
Second, file a permanent change of address with the post office from your home address to your black hole address.
Then the system starts working against the junk mail machine:
For the first 12 months, all of your mail is forwarded to your black hole.
Junk mail advertisers get updated through the automated postal system.
We filter your mail, destroy the junk, and scan the rest for you to view online.
For every piece of mail, you choose: forward it, scan it, or shred it.
After 12 months, junk mail that was updated by advertisers keeps going to your black hole. The rest starts going back to your home address.
Use your black hole address for everything except the mail you truly want delivered to your home.
Never create another permanent change of address unless you want to hand your new address to junk mail companies again.
Use a temporary change of address instead. That keeps your home address out of the system. A temporary change lasts 6 months and can be extended to 12.
Notify only the people and organizations that actually matter. In most cases, they do not use the postal update system anyway.
If you stop feeding the system, junk mail stops getting easier.
If you use a black hole address and avoid permanent change-of-address filings in the future, you cut the biggest pipelines junk mail uses to find you.
This is how you take back your mailbox.
Sign up for the waiting list to get your junk mail black hole and stop letting advertisers invade your home.
You read this far, so I believe you care about this problem. If you’re wondering about price, I’m currently thinking about $45 per month with a 30-day free trial. The price may need to be higher because we will need a commercial facility to receive mail, staff to sort it, and a process to ensure quality work. That price may go down as more people join and we benefit from economies of scale.
I also want every piece of mail checked by staff twice to make sure junk mail gets destroyed and legitimate mail gets through. I want strong incentives for sorters so accuracy is rewarded and mistakes are penalized.
Once at least 100 people join the waiting list, I’ll set up the infrastructure. That should only take a couple of weeks because there is already digital mailbox software available and commercial space can be rented quickly. The post office paperwork should not take long.
For the first 100 people, I’ll mail a letter to your black hole mailbox to test the infrastructure and make sure you can view your mail online. After that test passes for several people, I’ll let you know when to file your permanent change of address. Please note on the waiting list signup if you’re happy to participate in testing.
I’m ready to get this started. If you want to join the waitlist, sign up now. You can also call or email me with questions or suggestions. I’m open to anything that helps us win the battle against junk mail.