Slashdot Mirror
Most Amazon Prime Subscribers Say They Don't Want To Buy the Amazon Key That Lets Delivery People Into Their Homes (recode.net)
A reader shares a report: Next week, Amazon will start delivering packages straight into Americans' homes, using a smart lock and camera device called Amazon Key. But will anyone bother paying for what seems like an invasive service? Most wouldn't. About 58 percent of people who have Amazon Prime definitely would not buy Amazon Key, according to a SurveyMonkey poll done on behalf of Recode. That's only slightly less than the 61 percent of all U.S. adults who wouldn't buy the product, suggesting it's broadly unattractive, regardless of whether people are Amazon customers. Among Prime subscribers, only 5 percent said they would definitely buy Amazon Key. Of all U.S. shoppers, even less -- 4 percent -- said they would. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents have Prime subscriptions.
Just wait until this fucking thing is cracked. Amazon stock will drop 150 points in a day.
I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I'll bet that most people thinking this haven't even looked at how Amazon has set this up.
Camera records everything.
Deliveryman doesn't have key & can't get in any time he wants.
Customer gets a really nice wifi & phone controlled lock.
If someone really wants to break into your house, they'll just use a fucking brick. Off camera as well.
The service is setup so Amazon unlocks the doors, the delivery person puts your package down just inside the door, and he closes the door. All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired. It's really that simple.
Amazon has done a pretty good job of thinking this through. I know I shouldn't be surprised when people comment about shit without reading about it first, but I still am.
If people don't want it, they won't buy it. If they want to try it (like everything all the Slashdot Luddites gnash teeth about), then they will, regardless of what you say.
I like to think Amazon isn't entering into this stupidly, and has done some research about the safety. Either way, people leave keys out for dog walkers and home cleaners ALL THE TIME, this is just a tech version of that. But honestly, the market will decide on this one, and no one is making you do anything.
Should the only thing a company sells be something that most people buy? Kiss all those niche market items goodbye, then.
Put in a keyed "doggie door" to push the package through. Or use a locked front porch.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Remember when the police were paying Best Buy employees to inform on Geek Squad customers? I think that history shows there is no way you can grant low-lever worker bees unfettered ability to invade your privacy. Even NSA contractors who are relatively well paid, vetted, and know they're monitored can't resist the urge to abuse their power for personal benefit even when it's as petty as a few cheap laughs.
You obviously didn't order a video camera using Alexa or you would have proof on camera.
You have to have the Amazon camera installed to use the service. (which, for me, is another reason not to use it)
I've never locked my front door. I didn't even have a proper key for some of the places I've lived. Other than raccoons opening the back door I've never had any unwanted guests. What percentage of slashdot users live in neighbourhoods so unsafe you have to lock your house?
The key requires you to also install their video camera. So there is that. I still personally wouldn't do it. IoT has not proven secure enough to replace my locks.
It was marketed backwards. It should have been sold as an Amazon branded security system first and then as a way to deliver packages second. $250 for a smart lock front door and a security camera is a bit high but not too bad. Paying $250 so Amazon can drop off packages inside your home, not so much.
Calvin:Do you believe in the devil? Hobbes:I'm not sure man needs the help.
Lots of houses have a porch which here in the UK means a small area behind the main front door that has another door that leads into the house proper. Think of it like an air lock, helps keep heat in/out depending on the time of year, but most heat in, in the UK.
So all I need to do is upgrade the inner door/add a lock and then I would be quite happy to let random delivery person in. If they want to steal the umbrella on camera more fool them. Meanwhile I don't have to worry about missed deliveries.
Actually I wouldn't bother because I can just get stuff delivered to work, but for lots of people with less accommodating workplaces it would be a winner.
Just ship me a nice sturdy box that I can anchor to the ground or to my driveway, and the Amazon delivery person can use their code to drop the packages off in that.
Look, at one point I lived in an old apartment building in Seattle which had these little cupboards next to each door, about 3 foot by 2 foot, with another door only the apartment dweller could open.
Found out they were icebox doors so the ice wagon could deliver ice to each house but not open them. Before that, I used to deliver papers as a boy and some houses had these boxes next to the front door you could put papers in, and then close (but not open again). These were for newspapers.
Why doesn't Amazon do the same thing?
It's the "have a key to let you in" that freaks people out. Amazon just needs to allow people to put stuff and then LOCK IT after stuff is put in, and the homeowner is the only one to unlock it. Not a key to your door.
(caveat: any decently trained person can hack your doors, they're called locksmiths, and those windows you love won't stop squat)
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
In many homes and apartments in many countries (Venezuela and the USoA included), the main door does not lead right into the house. Instead, the main door leads to a small space (zaguan, salita de estar, pasillo, sort of a small hallway). If I can put an interior door separating this space from the rest of the house, and if I used amazon a lot, then I would gladly go for this Amazon service.
the guy opens the main door, enters, drops the packet, leaves. All on camera
He can not see inside the house (because of the extra door), if he tries to enter the house, he has to force the extra door, and gets recorded on camera...
If, on the other hand, the main door leads right into the house, with no way to separate a small area from the rest, no fucking way I would go for this. Not only for the risk of being robed and what not, but also, for the invasion of privacy (i do not want the delivery guy seing the mess of my house, or what paintings I have on the walls), or getting frinedly with my rottwiler ;-)
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
You are right and I have a much better idea; Just send me a duplicate of your key and your alarm system code and I will make the delivery for you for free. No camera needed!
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
FWIW, I don't really think this is going to be the problem it looks like from the outside. There are a couple of factors reducing your risk.
1. Most of the big name delivery drivers are paid a living wage. They have a reduced incentive to go rogue (I didn't say NO incentive). I assume this will continue to apply to whoever winds up with these delivery permissions.
2. Anybody who gets burgled after having a keyed delivery is likely to immediately blame Amazon, so the police are going to wind up looking hard at the drivers after the first Amazon-burglary. There will be some, but I think it will be a self-correcting problem.
3. How much of the 'good stuff' is visible from the front door via casual glance, but NOT visible already through the windows?
4. People will be watching the deliveries over the camera. A driver who LOOKS LIKE he is casing the place is going to get called out even if he never intends to commit a crime.
5. Amazon has every incentive to make this work**. The very first time someone has a credible case that this service is connected to a crime in someone's house, they will probably massively over-perform their 'service recovery', full financial compensation, lifetime free Prime, additional store discounts, etc.
Certainly there is risk, but I think the additional risk is small.
*: Bank robbery, mostly, but I was locked up with some people who did basically what you described.
**: I live in an apartment complex and my first Amazon shipment (which was also my last) was stolen before pickup. Now I can only get shipments sent to my friends house or my place of employment, both of which can be a hassle to transport home (as a bicycle commuter moving packages can be problematic).
For some reason your Amazon home security camera had a blackout for the same 10 minutes that someone was robbing their home.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust