raised security concerns مخاوف

Amazon provides keys to delivery staff to enter customers' homes

• An Amazon employee carries a number of packages for delivery.

  Reuters

• Entering homes to deliver parcels sparked controversy.

  From the source

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It seems that the Amazon parcel delivery company has discovered a modern way to enter its customers' premises without having to put parcels in front of the doors, as these parcels become subject to theft, or the return of these employees again in the absence of the parcel owner.

That's why Amazon asked its customers to allow its employees to use a mobile device to open apartment doors themselves.

The online shopping giant is paying landlords across the country - sometimes with financial incentives - to give its workers access to buildings, as the project would reduce theft of packages when they are left at doors, but some experts and homeowners have raised security concerns in this particular.

Through this service, called "Enter to Work", "Amazon" can speed up the tasks of delivery employees, and this also gives it an advantage over its competitors.

Customers who have installed the device say it reduces constant noise from delivery staff and is a safer alternative than other delivery methods.

Fears

However, the Amazon program, which was first announced in 2018, raised security and privacy concerns at a time when the program was gaining popularity.

Although the company has reassured its customers that it conducts background checks on delivery staff and that they can only open the doors when they have packages for delivery, customers are concerned that delivery workers will reach the front doors of their buildings, for purposes other than parcel delivery, as long as the « Amazon leaves it up to package owners to notify those employees that they are, or are not, inside the building.

breakthrough

Any device connected to the Internet can be hacked, including Amazon, and bad workers can try to open doors, says Ashkan Soltani, a privacy researcher and technical advisor to former US President Barack Obama.

Soltani, who was also a former chief technical officer at the US Federal Trade Commission, adds that the customer risks himself when "essentially installing an Internet-connected device controlled by a third party on an internal network."

The company has already installed this device in thousands of apartment buildings in the United States, where it places a circular sticker with the “Amazon smile” logo, where the device is installed.

Amazon salespeople are scattered across the country knocking on doors, making service offer calls, or calling street building managers to get them to install the devices.

The company has partnered with local locksmiths to offer this service to building departments while their locks are being repaired.

Amazon installs the device for free, and sometimes offers a $100 gift card from Amazon to anyone who agrees to install the device.

Access to mailboxes only

Currently, only the US Postal Service has access to the buildings, which only has access to mailboxes inside the building.

The US Postal Service says that it tested a way for its workers to enter buildings without disturbing residents, in cooperation with the company "Smart Lock" in 2018, but this test ultimately failed without disclosing the reasons.

For years, Amazon has sought to get its workers to pass through the front doors of buildings.

In 2017, it launched a campaign for shoppers to allow delivery staff to come home when they are away from home and leave packages in the lobby.

Wal-Mart did the same shortly after, but the project didn't work out.

In 2018, Amazon set its sights on apartment buildings, launching a “check in to work” service and urging major landlords to install the device on their buildings.

But its program appears to have accelerated in the past year, as Amazon has deployed its representatives to all regions of the United States, and the company has recently promoted delivery jobs in Miami and San Antonio who can earn between $3,000 and $11,000 a month in bonuses and commissions.

Not all Amazon packages pass through the front doors, with about 60 percent of those packages being provided by the company itself, according to shopping data company Rakuten Intelligence, with the rest delivered through other delivery companies.

• Amazon can, through this service, which is called "entering to work", expedite the tasks of delivery employees, and this also gives it an advantage over its competitors.

• Customers who have installed the device say that it reduces constant noise from delivery staff, and is a safer alternative than other delivery methods.

• Not all Amazon packages pass through the front doors. About 60% of these packages are provided by the company itself, according to shopping data company Rakuten Intelligence, and the rest is delivered through other delivery companies.

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