We were waiting for a simple way to point to a spot on the ground, without dragging along our whole life story.

DigiPin is a clean answer to that problem. It turns latitude and longitude into a short 10-digit code that points to a tiny square on the ground, about 3.8 metres by 3.8 metres. Easy to pass over a call, a text, or even on paper.

The Department of Post built it with IIT Hyderabad and NRSC-ISRO. It is not an address or an identity number. It is simply a way to mark a spot without relying on long text fields.

The gains are practical. Delivery systems can plan routes, confirm that a parcel reached the right spot, and balance workload across areas. India Post has already geo-referenced PIN code boundaries, so a DigiPin can auto-fill the correct PIN in the background. Banks, hospitals, and government offices can accept a small readable point instead of a paragraph.

Similar ideas exist elsewhere. The US has a national grid and ZIP, the UK has postcodes, Ghana has a national GPS code, and India has had private options like MapmyIndia Mappls Pin, Google's Plus Code, what3words and others. What sets DigiPin apart is that it is neutral, open, and free of vendor lock-in.

But there are complex parts. Privacy risks do not come from a single location alone. The danger starts when a precise point gets mixed with identity, health records, caste data, or credit scores. A location plus personal data is a sharp tool, and it can be misused. Today, DigiPin collects consent to show a code, does not ask for personal details, and carries no registry of who generated which code. The proposed amendments to the Post Office Act change this picture. They envision a formal system with registered providers, a central administrator, and separate validation agencies. The proposed law mandates consent at every step as a standalone statutory requirement, not just inherited from the DPDP Act. But how this consent will work in practice is left to rules yet to be written. Whether the system stays open and trustworthy depends on these safeguards.

Beyond privacy, there are practical limits. GPS can wander by several metres, more so in dense streets or indoors. A 3.8 metre grid is tight, so a shaky signal can drop you in the next square. DigiPin marks a point on the ground but does not tell you the floor or flat number in a high-rise building. And not everyone is accurate enough in identifying their house on a map in an app or on a webpage. Users with basic phones and limited digital familiarity may pick the wrong square without even knowing it. The full potential of this system will not arrive without strong capacity building at all levels.

Do not treat DigiPin as an identity. It is a place, not a person. Do not bundle it with Aadhaar, health IDs, or bank profiles. Keep location apart from personal records unless the user gives narrow, time-bound consent. Do not make it mandatory for public services. The proposed amendments recognise this. They say that validating an address is not proof of identity or ownership, and they propose civil penalties for unauthorised operations. The framework now being built through DHRUVA is far bigger than the current simple portal. That makes this separation not just a good idea but an urgent necessity. A location code plus personal details is a powerful and dangerous blend. Keep the two apart, and we get the best of both worlds. Fast service and firm privacy.

Professor Y. Nithiyanandam heads the Geospatial Research Programme at the Takshashila Institution. The views expressed are personal.