It’s easy to hate junk mail, especially when it comes cascading in through your letterbox day after day after day. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was actually interesting stuff, but it’s usually just special offers for local plumbing services or yet another real estate firm trying to scam you into some deal or another. Tedious…and apparently unstoppable. Or is it?

The good folk behind Paper Karma don’t think so. Mostly because they’ve got this new mobile freeware app, that lets you take a snapshot of the junk mail with your phone as it’s lying on your mat (or kitchen table if you’re so inclined to invite it in), send it to the Paper Karma service instantly from the phone, and the software will then contact the mailer directly to get you removed from their distribution list. Clever eh?

You need to take a photo which includes either the publication name or some other easily recognisable clue, like a logo or a name and address, and the Paper Karma system will then check the massive database (US only at the moment unfortunately) and automatically notify the mailer to ask for removal. Ah the power of technology, eh? Of course sometimes it doesn’t work, but the good news is that the database is constantly being updated with every new submission, so it will get better over time. I’ve got to say this is an app I would definitely use constantly, now let’s hope they develop an international version. 

Available in Android, iPhone and Windows phone versions.