Amazon Is Reportedly Building a Doorbell That Lets Drivers Into Your House (cnbc.com)

According to CNBC, Amazon is working with Phrame, a maker of smart license plates that allow items to be delivered to a car's trunk, to build a smart doorbell that would give delivery drivers one-time access to a person's home to drop off items. From the report: Phrame's product fits around a license plate and contains a secure box that holds the keys to the car. Users unlock the box with their smartphone, and can grant access to others -- such as delivery drivers -- remotely. The new initiatives are part of Amazon's effort to go beyond convenience and fix problems associated with unattended delivery. As more consumers shop online and have their packages shipped to their homes, valuable items are often left unattended for hours. Web retailers are dealing with products getting damaged by bad weather as well as the rise of so-called porch pirates, who steal items from doorsteps. Amazon also has an incentive to reduce the number of lost packages, as they can be costly.

Comments

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[gillbates]

So what could possibly go wrong with having the key to unlock dozens of upper-middle class homes in a delivery van whilst the driver grabs lunch?

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[mysidia]

How about putting a small "DELIVERY-ONLY" shed on your house, and the doorbell can only unlock the delivery shed (After scanning the package for that address)

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Or a steel toolbox that locks when it closes. Put package in box, close box. But I suppose that doesn't need an app. Not sexy enough.

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[taustin]

The apartment complex I live in has boxes for package deliveries. They drop the key in your mail box. Not available to Amazon, though.

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[infolation]

In the UK (and elsewhere?) Amazon have been installing metal lockers in local supermarkets. The lockers are different sizes to accommodate all packages and are opened with a one-time pin emailed to the parcel recipient.

So instead of everyone needing their own individual 'shed', 'steel toolbox' etc, they can use Amazon's nearby lockable metal-shed for free.

This makes a lot more sense to me than 'smart doorbells'.

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[ShanghaiBill]

So what could possibly go wrong with having the key to unlock dozens of upper-middle class homes in a delivery van whilst the driver grabs lunch?

Anyone with a screwdriver can break into a house. The reason home burglaries are relatively rare is not that getting in is difficult, but that the risk/reward ratio is unfavorable. Modern homes just don't have that much worth stealing. Used TVs and computers are not worth much. Since everyone has CCs, there is little need to cache cash. Nobody uses real silverware anymore. Meanwhile, cameras, sensors, and alarms are far more common.

Re:What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't you just use a box and leave an undone padlock?
The delivery guy puts the package in the box then puts the padlock on.

Re: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!

[mnemotronic]

That might have worked. I ordered one from Amazon but it got stolen before I got home.

I will never be on board with this

[Anonymous Coward]

I just don't need that level of convenience in exchange for having strangers in my home. It creeps me out more than a little. Maybe there is a market for this, but nobody I've talked to would even consider it.

Re:I will never be on board with this

[93 Escort Wagon]

A few years ago, my then-neighbors were selling their house. As part of the process, the realtor set up a weekend open house where people could swing by, walk through the house, ask questions, etc.

A week after the open house, the neighbors went away for a few days. At one point during their trip, my wife noticed a pickup parked behind their house. She thought that was odd, so she walked over to ask them what was going on. The guys said they were hired by $family's_name to do some work... but two minutes after she came back, they were peeling down the road at high speed with some of our neighbor's stuff. Fortunately she spooked them or they would've gotten away with more loot.

Again fortunately, these guys were pretty stupid and eventually got caught trying to sell some items which had some sort of registration number the neighbors had provided to the police. Turns out one of them had been to the open house, and this was a common way for them to scope out homes for later robbery.

Yeah, I'm gonna let some random delivery guy into my house.

news at 10

[starblazer]

Amazon drivers pilfer customers homes while delivering.

Already There

[nick_davison]

I needed a car towing about a hundred miles back home. Most tow drivers need you to ride with them so you can receive your keys back at the destination. I needed to remain where the car had broken down and a two hour tow plus a slow and expensive Uber back would have sucked.

Because of home automation, I was able to send the driver with my keys, watch him pull up and unload my car, then open the door for him to drop the keys inside, watching him the whole time, before locking the door behind him.

I was out five minutes of my time vs four hours.

Yes, âoeIOT security!â Lots of panic. Systems are exploitable. You could get robbed.

But no matter how secure the locks on a house, a thief can go through the windows. Put bars on the windows and a thief can drive a stolen truck clean through your wall.

Someone determined enough is going to get in. But theft deterrent is always about making your neighbor a more appealing target and you not worth the hassle.

IOT locks donâ(TM)t change that by any perceptible amount. There will always be edge case hacks but few and far between, not the norm. Plus I have multiple other layers of security so the door is only one small part.

In exchange, I got four hours of my life back that time and have a bunch of other similar stories of the convenience that more than outweighs the very slight additional risk.

Re:Already There

[argStyopa]

Um, in my world I'd have just said "when you get to my house, push the keys through the mail slot".

No internet required.
Total cost of equipment maybe $10 for the mail slot in the door.

Seriously man, why overcomplicate things?

Re:Already There

[Gussington]

I needed a car towing about a hundred miles back home. Most tow drivers need you to ride with them so you can receive your keys back at the destination.

What?
Keys go with car. If that's a mechanic then you collect when the car is fixed, if that's home then leave the window slightly open and drop them in the car (or letterbox, or in meter box, or under a shrub, or rock, or...). This is a non-problem.

Yes, âoeIOT security!â Lots of panic. Systems are exploitable. You could get robbed.

Not panic, just sharing the opinion that the risks are far more than any reward, therefore the idea is stupid.

In exchange, I got four hours of my life back that time and have a bunch of other similar stories of the convenience that more than outweighs the very slight additional risk.

Again this is a non-problem. I get packages dropped off on my front porch no issue. My local supermarket also offers a collection service (get stuff delivered there, I pick up on next visit).
IOT is mostly solutions to non-problems. No panic, just a dumb gimmick.

Re:Already There

[gregsv]

Or even, "Lock the keys in the car when you drop it, and when I get there I'll grab the second set from where I keep it to unlock." Total cost $0.

WTF

[war4peace]

How about "not leaving the parcel wherever the fuck the delivery dude feels like"?
Before delivery, contact the recipient and establish a time window when they (or someone they empower) are home. Then go and deliver the parcel during that window.
Owner's not home? Coolio. Notify them through text or whatever and have them go to the local pick-up warehouse.

Somehow this method works very well in most of EU. In my country, the delivery company has to provide proof they delivered the parcel into my hands, otherwise I could file a claim and they would have to pay for the declared value of the parcel. I'm simply amazed this is not a thing in the USA.

Liability

[pubwvj]

Amazon, of course, is up to date with its liability insurance premiums...

Dupe story, so dupe comment

[Calydor]

As I said a few weeks ago:

What about pets? Will they make sure to keep the door closed so the cat or dog doesn't bolt? Will they refuse to enter the house if there are pets?

What about grabbing something small in the fridge or elsewhere in the house? Does everyone have 360 degree surveillance in every room of their house now?

What about disputing the purchase if you don't get the things you bought? Something missing, wrong items etc.?

What about delivery guys taking pictures with their phones while they're in your house to, off the top of my head, either shame you on the net for old appliances, dirty dishes in the sink etc., or maybe to plan a future burglary now that they have ACCESS TO YOUR HOUSE to look around?

What about just doing your grocery shopping yourself? Is the world really so stressed now we can't do that?

Why not have an external delivery room?

[DatbeDank]

I'm not going to let strangers into my home. X1000 I will never let a delivery person into my home when I am not present.

I can, however, grant permission for them to drop stuff off in a small outdoor closet that can be securely opened by the delivery man. Whether I decide to build such an addition and not fill it with junk in storage is left to be seen!

Had a very expensive clock stolen off of my porch once. I can only imagine all of the little items that would start to go missing if I let delivery people into my home when I'm not there.

Yeah that ain't gonna happen

[Snotnose]

Leave the package by the door,. let my cam catch any porch pirates. Let some Amazon drone into my house? Oh hell no. Not gonna happen.

Delivery box

[Roger W Moore]

As I commented the last time this daft idea came up the simple solution is to have a secure delivery box. The one time key opens the box only and this way you are only risking the contents of the box - which unless you have multiple deliveries will be nothing - and not the entire contents of your house.

Nobody in their right mind is going to let some random stranger they have never met before into their house while they are away and it will cause huge problems for Amazon because if anyone notices something missing after a delivery Amazon's delivery person will get the blame even if the missing item was accidentally lost.

Re: Anybody willing to break the shed...

[walterhpdx]

We live out in the sticks in Oregon. Nearest neighbors are around 2 city blocks away. We left for the day once with the front door wide open - didn’t have a single problem. Same with packages that show up on Monday morning, when the hubby and I have left for the week, and they’re right there when we get back. I freaking love being out away from humans, though the proximity to coyotes and skunks can be maddening sometimes.