Big Guy on the Amazon Key

To initiate a delivery, the courier scans the barcode on your package and sends an access request to the Amazon Cloud. Upon receiving permission, the inbuilt camera starts to record. The courier swipes a prompt on their app and the door unlocks. He or she leaves the package inside and the door will lock when they leave. A notification is sent to you that signifies that the delivery has been completed. Finally, a video of the package drop-off is sent to you to reassure that delivery has been made safely. Well, what could possibly go wrong?

The Path Forward

Amazon Key is the latest in the line of home devices developed by Amazon in recent years. With the likes of Google and Apple already optimizing your life, the integrated Cloud Cam will be able to collaborate with other Amazon devices as well. Of course, the Key has a bunch of other uses too. You can use it to give permanent access to caregivers, home cleaners, dog walkers, and guests whom you trust. This means Amazon wants to be a part of everything in your life. With a front door camera and integrated access, it’s setting itself up to do just that.

While artificial intelligence is so much in the scene, Amazon is getting the scope to enter into your life and to optimize it further. Getting to know the intimate facts of your life and habits will give it the leverage to provide more compelling solutions to your problems. Amazon’s newly arrived Amazon Key will be available for purchase starting tomorrow. The DIY kit starts at $249.99.

Safety is the “key”

The entire process is conducted through an encryption authentication system. The strangeness of allowing unknown people into your home will slowly go away as you get accustomed to their service. With such a service, Amazon now provides its Prime members the convenience of in-home delivery to view their packages being delivered right from their mobile phones. This gives you the peace of mind that your order has been safely delivered to your home and is waiting for you when you arrive.

“Each time a delivery driver requests access to a customer’s home, Amazon verifies that the correct driver is at the right address, at the intended time, through an encrypted authentication process.” – Amazon

Optimizing your life

Just when you thought that the convenience of shopping online is about getting your packages delivered at your doorstep, here comes another feature that simply surpasses everything you have ever experienced with buying over the web, and that is just the start. The Amazon Key can do loads to simplify your everyday living. In the next few months, the Amazon Key will integrate with several thousands of professional services from providers across various industries through their Amazon Home Services.

“More than 1,200 services from providers across 60 professions can integrate for professional service scheduling through Amazon Home Services.”

Reactions and criticism

While the lock and camera system allows couriers to slip into people’s homes and, according to Amazon, delivery drivers are ‘thoroughly vetted’, Twitter went into a frenzy as many users posted about all the things that could possibly go wrong.

So not only is Amazon Key a robbery waiting to happen, but you have to pay $250 for the “privilege” of making your home less safe. #fail

— Rachel Luxemburg (@rlux) October 26, 2017

Amazon Key has to be among the worst ideas of the year… whoever thought this was a thing should be fired immediately… #fail#facepalm

— Helles Mammut (@HellesMammut80) October 25, 2017

This is all I think of when I see Amazon Key. #failpic.twitter.com/y3PDpBEeAS

— Nick Snider ? (@itsNICKSNIDER) October 25, 2017

Amazon’s in-house delivery service brings technology into greater focus and questions the price of convenience. The line between consumerism and privacy is becoming debatable. Although Amazon says that these orders are carried out by professionals with comprehensive background checks and reviews, they are suggesting that the trust involved with someone pulling up in your driveway and welcoming that person into your house is the same when no one is there. Not many consumers will agree with them.

The Verdict

The key system is designed to combat one of the eCommerce industry’s most serious problems today with delivered packages being stolen from the doorstep in the absence of the intended recipients. This is why Amazon is using its smart home devices to weave deeper into the everyday lives of its customers by allowing strangers to enter their homes. The intrusive Amazon will test the limits of privacy, allowing delivery personnel to enter their homes with “no-passcodes.” Customers can track the package “drop-off” from their mobile phone using Amazon’s Virtual Assistant, Alexa. The Cloud Cam will cost $120 by itself.

The launch of the Amazon Key system shows how the company is using its growing line of home service hardware to compete with the others in the industry. Using the service would prevent package theft and eliminate the need to stay at home or arrange for a spare key to let in home services, guests, etc. Simply put, Amazon is on a quest to manage your life and integrate itself into your home routine. With a camera that monitors the front door of your house, the company will now be in a position to find out a lot more about your life, like when you leave for work, how often you go on a vacation, and when you return back at night. 

In the past, Amazon completely changed the ways of book selling and publishing industries. Its new plan for home deliveries is to hand over the keys!

Try It