Amazon is one of the most popular order and delivery services in the world. If you have an Amazon Prime account you can order from the comfort of your own home at 2pm and your shiny new item is delivered to you the next morning at 9am – and you haven’t even left your house!
This is a great service, but what happens when you aren’t home to accept the delivery? You can arrange for your parcel to be delivered to your neighbour or to an Amazon locker ( normally located at stores in your area) , but this is also inconvenient. Amazon has now introduced a new concept called Amazon KEY.
The service relies on a Amazon’s new Cloud Cam and compatible smart lock. The camera is the hub, connected to the internet via your home Wi-Fi. The camera talks to the lock over Zigbee, a wireless protocol utilized by many smart home devices.
When a courier arrives with a package for in-home delivery, they scan the barcode, sending a request to Amazon’s cloud. If everything checks out, the cloud grants permission by sending a message back to the camera, which starts recording. The courier then gets a prompt on their app, swipes the screen, and voilà, your door unlocks. They drop off the package, relock the door with another swipe, and are on their way. The customer will get a notification that their delivery has arrived, along with a short video showing the drop-off to confirm everything was done properly.
Amazing, but would you trust this service? Are you comfortable allowing Amazon access to your home, belongings and privacy without you being present? Do the benefits of fast, guaranteed delivery outweigh the concerns about privacy and security?
What are your thoughts?
