As someone who works from home most days, it’s nice to have the flexibility to run errands in the middle of the day, work from a coffee shop, make appointments, or run to out-of-town meetings at a moment’s notice. But as a city dweller, few things stress me out as much as the idea of a package arriving at my doorstep when I’m not home.

Sometimes it gets diverted to a FedEx, UPS, or USPS pickup location. Sometimes it’s just left on the doorstep, despite my best efforts.

According to a report from CNBC, Amazon wants to change that… at least for deliveries from the internet retail giant.

Amazon hasn’t confirmed the report, but the company is said to be working with “smart license” plate maker Phrame on a service that would allow Amazon to deliver products right to the trunk of your car when you’re not around. A delivery person would show up at your car, unlock a secure box containing a car key using an app, and then lock up before they go.

CNBC reports Amazon is also working on a “smart doorbell” system that would work in a similar way, allowing a delivery person to unlock your door to drop off packages one time before a code is revoked.

The upshot is that packages wouldn’t be left out where anyone passing by can grab them.

The down side is that you’d have to trust an Amazon delivery person with unattended access to your house.

Personally, I think I’d rather risk a missed package or two.

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17 replies on “Report: Amazon wants access to your house & car (for deliveries when you’re not around)”

  1. Buy a safe, bolt it to your house, install that ‘doorbell’ and a plate saying ‘for Amazon deliveries’ on it. Bam, your personal Amazon locker in a convenient location.

  2. Ehh. So long as there’s some way to verify that it’s specifically amazon entering your house, I wouldn’t mind. Much better than the usual “well I covered your giant cardboard box with the welcome mat” BS fedex does.

  3. How long before this gets hacked and all these houses are wide open to thieves? What is the liability? How about a metal or fiberglass box out front that locks when the delivery person closes the lid? No keys required.

  4. This could maybe work if you have a small foyer/entrance area which you could turn into a type of air lock. Install another inner door with a strong lock and when expecting a package lock it so the delivery guy only has access to the “air lock” 😂

      1. Kangal, I don’t think I want a new $500 computer thrown down the chimney and wouldn’t have wanted that new full-size bed I ordered from Amazon a few years ago (yes, they sell them and they are delivered via freight delivery service) dragged up onto my roof at all. Also, I don’t have a fireplace so if somehow it fit it would only land on top of my gas furnace — a sure way to start a fire in winter! Of course I live in a relatively safe neighborhood and if something expensive is stolen off of my doorstep supposedly my house insurance will cover all but $500 of it. 🙂

      2. But then we’d need to come up with a high tech version of the chimney so they can tout the innovation 😉

  5. When I’m not at home, I usually take my car with me as well. So unless they deliver it to wherever I park, I see no benefit. OH, but then I can just order my package to the company address, and the receptionist will take it, and there will always be someone to take it. Also, this seems to be a great way to get my car stolen.

  6. How about an Amazon locker located in a central location. Leave a package in a locker and send me an email telling me which locker and a one time access code for that locker. Only down side is amazon would need a lot of lockers.

    1. They already have those. I just ordered a couple of packages for my parents, and told Amazon to deliver them to their lockers at their local supermarket. They have three days to pick them up after delivery, otherwise they go back.

      My parents live in a small town in the UK, and have three locations with Amazon lockers within an easy 10 minutes walk from their house. They tend to want to stay in if they’re expecting a delivery, so delivering to a locker saves them that worry.

      1. Do they have these in the US. I have never seen or heard of them in my area.

    2. Those are awesome, but everyone I try to use is always full. How about launching more of those lockers.

  7. This is just stupid. As there are no absolutes, not every delivery person will be honest when presented with an entire house for their perusal. And that license plate frame? Ridiculous!! It’s clear that someone overheated their brain to pop this gem out.

  8. Speaking as someone whose house was robbed by the paperboy while I was on vacation, I’m skeptical of giving strangers access to my home or car, let alone through an app. Beyond that, people in penetration testing know one of the greatest vulnerabilities to a secure location is the key box placed on a door for real estate, construction, or emergency workers.

    A better (if dumber) solution would be some sort of way to secure things from leaving your doorstep, like leaving tie-down net/webbing with an unlocked padlock at your front door for the shipping company to use when they drop something off. This raises the barrier of theft from grab-n-go to at least requiring some tools and time spent cutting material suspiciously on a doorstep.

  9. Yeah, no thanks. I usually order with the intention of being home the date of delivery. I understand emergencies happen but in that scenario, the emergency takes priority over a delivery.

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