Feature Request: Optional Expansion on Addressess

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#1

Hey all!

So i’m not sure all the places this is a thing BUT, in Canada, when digitally filling out customs forms for mailed products (in this case, through Canada Post’s site or mobile app), it requires the receiving party’s phone number to go along with the international address you are mailing to.

When filling it in, in person, the postal workers don’t require it BUT, going through any of the updated official forms online that make sending mass packages simpler, they most certainly do require it. (however fedex, UPS, etc all require it when i’ve mailed through them.)

It would be very awesome if we could have the option to request that as well for tiers that are getting merch/items and being sent outside of our country. (All online merchants i’ve ever purchased items through, including amazon, require a phone number from the recipient for the courier services , i don’t see why patreon should be different since we also have to send mail through postal or courier services.)

@mindy

#2

It’s not the same elsewhere, and it’s definitely only needed for certain couriers. Etsy doesn’t ask for my phone number, for instance, and that’s a better comparison to Patreon than Amazon is. I haven’t had to give my number when ordering from someone Canada-based either. I send international tracked post all over the world and phone details don’t come into it.

It would be reasonable to ask for a phone number, of course, if you have a tier that involves a postal service that demonstrably requires collecting them (or if it’s the law in your country), and this would have to be made clear to the person signing up. However, it would be abusive data collecting to ask for a phone number without a good reason. This option would have to be implented with a great deal of care, or we might end up with a lot of creators not realizing they’re misusing it and a lot of patrons giving away private details unnecessarily. (Or refusing to sign up to those creators. That would be my case, if no good reason is given to ask for my private information.)

So all I’m saying is, this is potentially fraught and needs to be done carefully.

#3

I always put my own phone number in that box.