How Postal Code Data Impacts Cybersecurity, Privacy and Fraud Prevention

The report discusses how postal codes have become integral to fraud detection, digital identity verification, and cybersecurity, noting that under GDPR they can constitute personal data. It describes how systems like AVS use postal code matching, the privacy and security risks from threat actors leveraging location metadata or breached address information, and prescribes safeguards—including limiting access, encrypting postal code fields, using secure APIs, and regularly updating datasets, especially across changing international postal boundaries.