You know what? Amazon may just have cracked the age-old problem of stolen packages from your front porch. The solution lies in a new service called Amazon Key. Together with a newly announced security cam, Amazon Cloud Cam and a smart lock, Amazon can let itself into your house and place the package inside, so there will be no more worrying about your package being hijacked by criminal minds, or mischievous little Jack living next door. Here’s how it is going work:
“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… Once this process is successfully completed, Amazon Cloud Cam starts recording and the door is then unlocked. No access codes or keys are ever provided to delivery drivers.”
This service can also to allow you to unlock the door, remotely, for your friends or family and eventually, extended to other services such as cleaning services, dog sitters et cetera. In order for Amazon Key to work, you will need an Amazon Prime member which cost 99 bucks a year and a $249 kit which will include the said Cloud Cam and a smart lock for your front door.
Before you get all too excited, you have to know that Amazon Key is only available in select cities where Amazon handles deliveries directly. While convenient, there is always concern about security with such services. Hacking is prevalent and with a service like Amazon Key, you could be putting your home and its content on the line. I mean, seriously, you basically entrusting your entire home security to Amazon and the cloud, and if history thought us anything, is that anything can be hacked.
So, would take the leap of faith and trust technology and trust Amazon to manage your home? Let us know in the comment section below.
Images: Amazon.
H/T: npr.
