What can delivery information prove?¶

Delivery information can help link a payment or order to a destination, recipient or collection event.

Avoid this assumption: The delivery name or address proves who made the payment or personally received the goods.

A merchant may hold the delivery name, address, telephone number, email address, delivery instructions, tracking number, carrier, timestamp and proof-of-delivery record.

For collection orders, records may include collection time, location, staff member, identification shown and CCTV.

Delivery information can establish that goods were directed to or recorded as delivered at a particular place.

It may also help identify repeated use of the same address, parcel locker, collection point or contact details across several transactions.

But the named recipient may not be the purchaser. Goods can be sent to family, associates, workplaces, temporary addresses or addresses used without permission.

A proof-of-delivery signature may be unclear, abbreviated or made by another person.

A delivery photograph can show location and parcel placement without identifying who later collected it.

Tracking status may reflect the carrier’s system event rather than actual receipt by the intended person.

Preserve the full order and delivery records, including changes to address, rerouting, failed delivery, collection and return.

Ask the merchant and carrier to explain timestamps, identifiers and proof-of-delivery fields.

Compare delivery data with account access, device evidence, communications, CCTV, location information and possession of the goods.

When reporting, distinguish dispatch, delivery location, collection and actual recipient.

Operational takeaway¶

Use delivery records to trace where goods were sent or collected, but prove the purchaser and recipient through corroborating account, device and physical evidence.