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Amazon Will Now Deliver Packages To the Trunk of Your Car (theverge.com) 135

Posted by BeauHD from the keys-to-success dept.
Last year, Amazon unveiled a service called Amazon Key that lets delivery people into your home to drop off packages. Now, the tech giant wants to do the same thing with your car. Amazon announced a new service that gives it couriers access to a person's vehicle for the purpose of leaving package deliveries inside. "Amazon wants to use the connected technologies embedded in many modern vehicles today" to gain entry, reports The Verge. "The company is launching this new service in partnership with two major automakers -- General Motors and Volvo -- and will be rolling out in 37 cities in the U.S. starting today." From the report: Amazon has been beta testing the new service in California and Washington state for the past six months. To start out, the service will only be available to Amazon Prime subscribers. It's also limited to owners of GM and Volvo vehicles, model year 2015 or newer, with active OnStar and Volvo on Call accounts. Amazon says it plans to add other automobile brands over time. Packages that weigh over 50 pounds, are larger than 26 x 21 x 16 inches in size, require a signature, are valued over $1,300, or come from a third-party seller also are not eligible for in-car delivery.

To access the new delivery service, you need to add your car to your Amazon Key app and include a description of the vehicle, so Amazon's couriers will be able to locate it. The car will need to be parked within a certain radius of an address used for Amazon deliveries, so either home or work. Driveways, parking lots, parking garages, and street parking are all eligible locations, just as long as it's not at some random address across town. To find your car, Amazon's couriers will have access to its GPS location and license plate number, as well as an image of the car.
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Amazon Will Now Deliver Packages To the Trunk of Your Car More

Amazon Will Now Deliver Packages To the Trunk of Your Car

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  • It's amazing... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ls671 ( 1122017 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @07:47PM (#56503725) Homepage

    It's amazing how much amazon has access to your stuff, isn't it?

  • Special instructions. (Score:5, Funny)

    by skids ( 119237 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @07:54PM (#56503771) Homepage

    Instructions to delivery service: Just move dead body over to the side if package will not fit between legs.

    • Re:Special instructions. (Score:5, Funny)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @08:09PM (#56503849)

      Instructions to delivery service: Just move dead body over to the side if package will not fit between legs.

      Passing this along: Amazon sells Body Bags [amazon.com] ...

    • Nice work when you can collect two paychecks:
      First check from Amazon, second check FBI/NSA/drug cartel/....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Memnos ( 937795 )

      Lots of complications there. If the aforementioned body is in rigor mortis, are they required to come back after that has passed? Also, expired bodies sometimes leave icky substances around them due to the cessation of sphincter functions and so forth. If those substances damage the package, is Amazon responsible for refunds? Complex SLAs might be involved.

      See, that right there are just a few of the many reasons why I always put dead bodies in a trunk that will not be used for anything else. It avoids the m

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Instructions to delivery service: Just move dead body over to the side if package will not fit between legs.

      Vehicle: Yellow Camaro, License Plate: S1RL K1LLR.

  • they should open a customer pickup depot (Score:3)

    by FudRucker ( 866063 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @07:55PM (#56503779)
    put one in any town that makes it worth building, have someone at a counter and all i have to do is walk in show my driver's license or photo ID and get my package,m it is worth it to me if i have to drive half way across town to get my package a day earlier
  • No, they won't.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by apoc.famine ( 621563 )

      I really, really detest these click-bait, rile up the masses, blatantly false headlines. Why can't we have the intellectual honestly to write, "Amazon offers delivery to newer model Onstar-enabled cars for Prime users."? Is that really so fucking hard? And if the source article doesn't have the brain cells to do that, what's the point of calling these folks editors if they just cut and paste the same garbage?

      My car isn't that make and model, isn't new enough, and other than when I'm out and about running er

      • You mean "Onstar-cursed" cars. Any car where a 3rd party (the manufacturer/Onstar) has control over the locks, ignition cutout, etc is damaged by design. Give me a good, old-fashioned key lock and a car alarm.

        • The last car I owned (I'm car free now) was a Camaro with On-Star. I didn't have a subscription after the free one ran out, and I learned how to disable the module by disconnecting the antenna once I found out that they were tracking equipped cars that weren't subscribing.

          I'm not paranoid about home assistants, but I'll be damned if I was going to let someone override my control of my car.

          • (I'm car free now)

            Given that others are suggesting that you get some sort of lock-box on your front porch maybe you should consider buying a junker with a good solid trunk that you can park somewhere close just so you can receive deliveries.

            When they ask me what my address is I simply tell them "Blue 2004 Chevy Impala parked somewhere around the vicinity of [insert address here], license plate [?????]"

            And then I'd have to explain that you can't open it with an app but there is a key hidden under the driver's side rear wheel

          • I'm not paranoid about home assistants, but I'll be damned if I was going to let someone override my control of my car.

            I'm not paranoid about the various home assistants either but I don't really see the point in them. My phone can already do more or less everything they can do and it's rarely not at my side. What problem is such a device solving for me? I like a good gadget as much as most people reading this but there has to be some utility function to make it worth bothering.

            Onstar is basically an (overpriced) concierge service with some access to your car controls. I don't have a principled objection but similar to

      • As soon as I saw the headline (somewhere else, not on /.) of course my first question was "how would they get get into my trunk"?

        I'm obviously not going to give them my key and my car is DUMB. So it only works on a handful of newer cars that already have the ability to unlock the trunk from a remote app.

        BRILLIANT. Your security was already compromised. Amazon is just taking advantage of that.

        But is it a big deal? The most valuable thing in my trunk is my spare tire and I don't think anyone is going to

        • So now we're going to normalize people we don't know walking up to anyone's car and putting anything they want in the trunk.

          I've got bad news for you. Most of us know our own cars, and maybe some of the neighbors' cars. And that's about it.

          A random car on the street? I'd never think twice if I saw someone putting something in the trunk.

          In other words, people we don't know are walking up and putting things into car trunks all the time now, so what, exactly, are we "normalizing" that's not already a stan

          • You make some good points, but I don't often see anyone putting anything in the trunk of a car and then driving away in a different car.

            I wouldn't accost someone I saw doing that, but I would think it was suspicious. Until now.

            If this works for Amazon and some of their customers, more power to them. I'm probably missing the market where people have multiple cars so even if they're away from home there's always that 3rd (or 4th) car sitting in the driveway. And that 3rd car that hardly ever gets driven m

        • That's not a burglar. No really, he's just putting our neighbor's groceries away.

          Then why is he walking out with more stuff than he went in with?

          If you can drop packages off, why can't you pick up returns at the same time?

  • Seems dangerous (Score:3, Interesting)

    by greenwow ( 3635575 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @07:56PM (#56503785)

    I only know three people that own GM cars, and that's only because of MAGA. All three of them keep guns in their trunks. Hopefully some law prevents them from giving access to some random delivery person to their guns.

    • Hopefully some law prevents them from giving access to some random delivery person to their guns

      Why would you need a law against some random delivery person having access to these guns, if that random delivery person can just go buy them from their nearest gunshop?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jonwil ( 467024 )

        Its a lot easier to grab a gun from a trunk (especially if that trunk is already unlocked for you) than to buy one at a gun shop with all the paperwork and checks.

        • Its a lot easier to grab a gun from a trunk (especially if that trunk is already unlocked for you) than to buy one at a gun shop

          Yeah in most countries, just not in America. By the way stealing is illegal. So why have a law on stealing guns from a trunk?

          with all the paperwork and checks.

          eL, Oh, eL.

  • Will they also poop in your car? [nydailynews.com]

  • All in the name of convenience.

    Although it's actually all in the name of cost savings. It costs more to re-deliver packages.

    Amazon assume you won't mind letting in minimum wage delivery drivers in to your home and car in exchange for increasing their profit margins.

    • Amazon assume you won't mind letting in minimum wage delivery drivers in to your home and car in exchange for increasing their profit margins.

      No, Amazon HOPES you won't mind letting minimum wage delivery drivers into your home and/or car.

      It's not like it's mandatory to use these services, and if you find it convenient and acceptable, more power to you. If you don't, fine. Noone will hold a gun to your head and make you use the service....

  • I don't get this (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Edis Krad ( 1003934 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @08:22PM (#56503899)

    Why does Amazon wants access to a car or my house?

    Here's a $50 solution
    1) Get large crate, fix it in place to prevent removal
    2) Get padlock
    3) Leave padlock inside crate
    4) Delivery guy places package in crate
    5) Delivery guy uses padlock, locks crate
    6) Get home, use only key to open padlock
    7) Get package
    8) ???
    9) PROFIT!

    And before people start tearing down this idea, ask yourself, is the flaw you found worse than "letting a stranger in my home"....

    • Better yet, put a one-way door like a postal package drop or library book drop on the box.

    • I only had hilarious thought of someone saying how easy it would be to pry, impact hammer, saw, etc. into crate..... when of course the same thing is true of door and door frame.

    • Padlock's a bad idea. They make hasps that have integrated locks. That way no one can steal your lock (which will cause the delivery to get delayed/left in an unlocked box for thieves.) Other than that, it's fine.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      You have been able to buy commercial delivery boxes for years now. Some have a time-base barcode for the delivery person to scan as proof that they were there, and I read something about some kind of certification with major delivery companies. Panasonic make them for the Japanese market but you can get them everywhere.

      Personally I just get stuff delivered to work. It's considered a minor perk of the job.

      • Same here. Working right next to the post office means that the lazy guys deliver EVERYTHING to my work address now, even if I order it for the home address.

        Usually I don't mind that much, considering that I'm usually at work when he delivers, but it sucks when you order large and heavy stuff and are working from home, waiting for the delivery.

    • The idea is good until your asshole neighbor discovers a new place for the garbage that doesn't fit into his garbage bin anymore.

    • 1) Get large crate, fix it in place to prevent removal

      2) Come back tomorrow and find crate gone as well as a nasty note from the apartment landlord.

      • The point you raised is moot.
        If you live in an apartment building, amazon key does not apply to begin with. I was offering a cheap, alternative to it.

        • Of course it does. I can change my lock, but I sure as fuck can't bolt something to the outside of my building. A lot of people in a lot of cities will be in this position.

    • You've basically described Amazon Locker [amazon.com], except the crate is bought and owned by Amazon, and they give you a key code to open it instead of using a key. It's available in my city and is pretty convenient for returns (my neighborhood is safe enough I don't mind packages being left at my door). The closest locker is just a block away, so is much quicker than a trip to Staples to drop off a UPS package. The biggest problem is it's so popular the nearest locker is frequently full, so I often have to go to t
      • So, maybe Amazon might want to consider selling to prime members their own personal "Amazon locker" mortise style locks and, separately, lockers. Following the notion from Abloy Cliq key powered electromechanical locks, the locker lock "key" could provide both power and (after confirming that it's powering an Amazon lock) a connection to an Amazon app, allowing Amazon's server to unlock it, which would be done for the delivery driver or for the owner (identity verified by the app). An owner who is displease

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Why does Amazon wants access to a car or my house?

      Here's a $50 solution
      1) Get large crate, fix it in place to prevent removal
      2) Get padlock
      3) Leave padlock inside crate
      4) Delivery guy places package in crate
      5) Delivery guy uses padlock, locks crate
      6) Get home, use only key to open padlock
      7) Get package
      8) ???
      9) PROFIT!

      And before people start tearing down this idea, ask yourself, is the flaw you found worse than "letting a stranger in my home"....

      I have no issue with your idea... but it sounds like you want to patent a letter box.

      I just get shit delivered to my workplace. Sometimes I have to sign for it (ID check requirements if I'm mail ordering booze here in the UK, they don't actually check my ID, but I have to accept the package in person).

  • No thanks (Score:5, Interesting)

    by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @08:33PM (#56503935)
    " access to its GPS location and license plate number, as well as an image of the car"

    And there is the next level of Amazon data mining. Car location, photo, license plate. All in their DB, forever.
    What will they use it for? They probably don't even know yet. But use it they will.

  • I suppose in the end... (Score:5, Funny)

    by sacrilicious ( 316896 ) <qbgfynfu.opt@recursor.net> on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @10:21PM (#56504311) Homepage
    ... that Amazon will begin a new delivery service called "Amazon Suppository".

  • Homeless can use Amazon now (Score:3)

    by ghoul ( 157158 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @10:32PM (#56504349)

    Given the high rent in California many people with jobs are homeless or living out of cars. They need to save money so ordering on Amazon makes sense. They can use smartphones to order but need an address for delivery. Till now they have been using Amazon lockers. Now they can get it delivered to their car.

  • I have a lot more to lose by letting a stranger into my house to deliver packages.

  • I don't know why more standard solutions aren't used. like having the package delivered at a post office or a pick-up box, or designate a neighbour. Give the neighbour or the janitor a receipt an when the delivery gus leave the package, asks the receipt. I have lived for year in a small town in Italy and used a lot the mail order catalogues, even before Amazon,
  • Amazon customer finds Jimmy Hoffa in trunk of Volvo.

  • Finally doing something for their workers (Score:3)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday April 26, 2018 @03:34AM (#56505109)

    Now those that earn SO little that they have to live in their car can order with their employer, too!

  • Is the car's locking system for the trunk sufficiently walled off from other parts of the locking system, and the car's control system in general, to provide the necessary security for this "feature" offered by Amazon? Or will this be yet another example of people wanting convenience at the expense of demoting security to a secondary priority?

  • When I was a kid, there was this sketchy guy outside my high-school selling all manner of candy out of the trunk of his car. This just reminded me of that.

  • ... a package that was supposed to arrive at my work yesterday was "Delivery attempted" last night at 6:15pm (and failed, natch, because we're closed) because one of the world leaders in computing and AI has NO WAY to know that this location is a business. This is a 4-story building, in a 6-building, many-acre office park, on a street full of strip malls and office parks. Because evidently Amazon does NOT have an existing list of locations that are businesses, and evidently the AMZL delivery sap has no magi

  • Guess I'd have to take the body out first.

  • It's true. It's on the Internet, so it has to be true.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/am... [babylonbee.com]

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