By Heather Hamilton, contributing writer
If you haven’t heard of Amazon Key, you likely haven’t been paying attention. The new service, which will go live on November 8, is for Prime members and comes with a kit to include a Cloud Cam security camera and accompanying smart lock. If you’ve ordered something, the company will deliver, turn on the Cloud Cam, and unlock your door, which allows the courier to leave your package inside. Of course, you’ll be able to watch it either live or after the fact via a recording.
So a password never exchanges hands, which might make Amazon Key seem secure, and there is an admittedly stable process in place — you receive a four-hour delivery window for your order, Amazon confirms that the driver has reached the correct address during the allotted time via an encrypted authentication process involving scanning the package barcode, which then checks in with the cloud wherein software checks that the time/place/package details line up, Amazon sends a notification that delivery is happening, the Cloud Cam comes on, the door unlocks, the package is delivered.
You’ll be able to choose who has access to your home, receiving notifications when a person exits or enters. Gizmodo claims that it is a way for Amazon to encourage consumers to prioritize Amazon’s many services, which will roll out in full force in the coming months. In the Amazon Key announcement, the company says that we can expect over 1,200 services, including a cleaning service partnered with Merry Maids, as well as a pet-sitting and dog-walking service from Rover.com.
But these people have to be able to access your house in your absence, which paves the way for Amazon Key, which will allow them to enter your home as you watch. Right now, Amazon has not addressed potential pitfalls, including what happens if a vendor misbehaves outside the scope of the Cloud Cam or the protocol if there is a security issue that might allow for additional access to your home.
Amazon Key will cost $250 and will initially be available in 37 cities. Critics worry that perhaps Amazon is overextending their reach, allowing both eyes (Amazon Key) and ears (Amazon Alexa) within consumer’s homes. It’s putting a lot of trust in technology as a gatekeeper to human mischief, and it might be a hard sell.
In an article in the Washington Post, writer Christine Emba discusses what she calls the “out-of-touch” ideas often generated by Silicon Valley, but especially by Amazon. “Yes, I do value convenient deliveries, but I value my security more — better to strategize around postal schedules than be assaulted by a person hiding in one’s home!” she writes. “And while I dislike rained-upon packages, I prioritize privacy enough that I’m loath to install a corporate-controlled surveillance apparatus inside my house. New technologies are often packaged as amenities we shouldn’t have to live without, and any trade-offs are made to seem meager in the face of potential comfort. But there’s more to life than convenience — maybe someone should let Silicon Valley know.”
To make the Cloud Cam seem less creepy, Wired reports that Amazon has provided the camera with a green LED that lights up when it records, only stores videos in the cloud for 24 hours (longer if you elect to purchase that feature), and encrypts video files in transit and rest. If you don’t want Amazon to track when you leave and enter the house, you can turn off motion detection.
Of course, none of that changes that there’s a stranger in your house, which just might make the service fall short for consumers.
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