Identity Verification – Why Is It Required?

As a licensed postal service provider, Mailboxde.com GmbH is obliged under the German Postal Act (Section 4 (4) No. 3 PostG) to take measures to prevent the misuse of postal addresses. This legal obligation serves not only to protect the provider “in order to prove the proper provision of postal services” (Section 69 (1) PostG), but also to protect the following legitimate interests:

Sender protection
The sender has the right to know that the shipment will be delivered to the actual and authorized recipient.
Public interest
Transparency and trust in the postal system are in the public interest.
Prevention of misuse
Without identity verification, the service could be misused and goods collected anonymously.

What does the law say?

According to the German Postal Act (Postgesetz – PostG), a postal operator has the:

right to request identity verification via an official ID document (Section 69 (1) PostG),
obligation to prevent misuse of the delivery address (Section 4 (4) No. 3 PostG),
right to record selected data from the ID: type, issuer, ID number, date of issue (Section 69 (2) PostG),
right to process this data solely for the purpose of demonstrating proper postal service provision (Section 69 (3) PostG).

According to the German Identity Card Act (Personalausweisgesetz – Section 20 (2)), only the holder of the identity card may make and submit a copy. Others may do so only with the holder’s explicit and informed consent. Uploading the ID by the customer (e.g. through Veriff’s interface) complies with the law.

Identity verification is not a legal obligation for you, but it is necessary to use the service. Without verification, the address cannot be securely operated, and the provider would not be able to fulfill their legal obligation to prevent misuse.

For this reason, we offer, in addition to online verification, a free alternative in the form of indirect verification via bank transfer – it is sufficient to top up your account from a bank account held in your name / company name (not via payment gateway or credit card). Once the payment is credited, we will verify your identity free of charge.

How does verification work?

We use the service Veriff, where you upload your identity document (ID card or passport) and a short video of your face using a mobile app or webcam.

Veriff is a licensed electronic identity service provider based in the EU and certified under the international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2022. Personal data processing is carried out in accordance with the GDPR under the supervision of the Estonian data protection authority.

This method is quick and convenient – the verification usually takes only a few minutes. The cost of 0,80 EUR for this service is deducted from your account balance.

Veriff processes this data solely for the purpose of identity verification and automatically deletes it no later than 90 days after submission.

If you do not wish to use Veriff verification, we also offer a free alternative in the form of a bank transfer when topping up credit from a bank account held in your name / company name. After the payment is credited, identity verification will be carried out at no additional cost.

Who is responsible?

Responsible for identity verification and personal data processing:

Mailboxde.com GmbH
Dresdner Str. 9, 02763 Zittau, Germany
[email protected]

Thank you for your trust and cooperation. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.