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Most Amazon Prime Subscribers Say They Don't Want To Buy the Amazon Key That Lets Delivery People Into Their Homes (recode.net)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-thanks dept.

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.

21 of 357 comments (clear)

  1. You want to hear howls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just wait until this fucking thing is cracked. Amazon stock will drop 150 points in a day.

  2. Nope... by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

    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.........
    1. Re:Nope... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      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?

      If 5% of Amazon Prime members buy this Amazon Key- that's still 4.25 million users in the US alone (estimated 85million Prime Owners). I think they will make a profit off this. I personally wouldn't sign up for it, but sounds like this will be profitable to Amazon.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Nope... by swb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm sure the group of people who thought this was a good idea are:

      1) Super rich senior managers at Amazon that have a flood of service people through their houses all the time -- maids, cooks, pool cleaners, whatever. They think it's totally normal.

      2) 24/7/365 corporate climbers who live in hotel rooms. To them this is just maid service, and they don't own their hotel room.

      3) Millennials sharing an apartment with 3 people who think it's totally normal when you're roommates girlfriend's sister is in and out of the place all the time. They have no expectation or experience with privacy.

      I can totally see the groupthink among these people that having Amazon in and out of someone's home is a perfectly fine idea.

      I think it sucks, unless Amazon wants to sign a confidentiality agreement and post a $1,000,000.00 surety bond payable upon demand for any suboptimal outcome associated with this service.

    3. Re:Nope... by Moof123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More to the point, those 4.25 Million people are likely the ones living in apartments or crime prone neighborhoods where rightly paranoid people currently shy away from delivery to the home due to theft fears. If people are already frustrated by difficult delivery issues Amazon will become a disproportionate winner with those customers.
      Not only will the paranoid buy stuff they were not ordering online previously, but they will buy stuff from Amazon that they could actually get cheaper elsewhere because of the reassurance that their stuff will not be stolen or require them to be present to sign (a major hassle for those with jobs...).

    4. Re:Nope... by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Urbanites who live in apartment buildings and condominiums are used to having landlords and maintenance staff come into their homes while they're out. Guess who works for Amazon.

  3. The don't fucking buy it. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      None of this prevents the Amazon delivery guy from telling his buddies which houses have good stuff to steal. Thieves can come back months later without any connection to Amazon whatsoever. Sure they could throw a brick through a window on any house but why risk attracting them to yours?

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by sqorbit · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

      Yes, because the threat of job lose always keeps people from doing stupid things. If the person comes in your house destroys something and leaves, sure he'll be fired. Amazon will mostly likely pay out for you also. You are still left with the effects though. The threat of jail doesn't keep people from committing crimes. The threat of job lose doesn't keep someone from cracking for a moment and doing something stupid. I prefer that if they do crack that it not be in my home.

      --
      Sent from my TARDIS
    3. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by hawguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      None of this prevents the Amazon delivery guy from telling his buddies which houses have good stuff to steal. Thieves can come back months later without any connection to Amazon whatsoever. Sure they could throw a brick through a window on any house but why risk attracting them to yours?

      The thieves already know by your house and the car you drive.

      If you drive a beat up Hyundai parked on the street in front of your apartment, you probably don't have much worth stealing. If you have a BMW and Tesla parked in the drive way, chances are good that they'll be able to find something of value.

      But there's still value in your buddy tipping you off about which houses use this service, because all of them are guaranteed to have at least one Amazon cloud camera watching the house since that's a requirement of the service.

  4. I barely trust the maintenance man by i286NiNJA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  5. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by hawguy · · Score: 3, Informative

    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)

  6. How many people lock their door? by FeelGood314 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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?

    1. Re:How many people lock their door? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just out of idle curiosity...

      Are you serious? And if so, where the hell do you live?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    2. Re:How many people lock their door? by Target+Drone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's fairly common for rural people where their house can not be seen from the road to not lock their doors. The logic being that if someone drives up to your house with the intention to rob it having a locked door just means you'll get robbed AND have to fix your door. In the suburbs it makes more sense to lock your door as a neighbour might notice someone carrying a crowbar up to your front door.

      Personally I live in the suburbs and lock my door even when I'm home. There have been a couple of cases over the years where local teens will wonder the neighbourhood quietly opening doors and then stealing wallets and car keys near the door. My neighbour left his back door unlocked when he went on holidays once and kids stole the beer out of his fridge. Locking your doors will eliminate these crimes by the local kids but a locked door won't deter a professional thief.

  7. Inside the home delivery costs $250 by EnOne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.
  8. Re:Massive success by jabuzz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  9. Sell me an Amazon Box by cirby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  10. Depends on the architecture of the home. by williamyf · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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!
  11. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by ls671 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  12. Convicted felon*, here by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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).