Amazon Key is coming to Italy: this is the service that allows couriers to deliver the package to the recipient’s home even when no one is at home. Experiments have just begun in Milan and Rome in about 1,000 condominiums, equipped with the so-called interactive digital bulletin boards of Laserwall, the initiative’s technological partner. Laserwall is much more than just a bulletin board, and can integrate video surveillance, access control and (crucial) digital key systems.
For the moment the practical details of the experiment have not been illustrated in too much detail, but it is easy to deduce that it will work in a similar way to what happens in the USA, where the service has been active for 5 years now. The courier will have an electronic device capable of interfacing with Laserwall. When (and only when) there is a package to be delivered but the recipient is not at home, the courier can “get opened” by Laserwall and then enter the building (it is not clear whether he will be able to reach the apartment). The Courierwho first broke the news, notes that delivery workers will be “identified and tracked in real time via the Amazon cloud.”
It is easy to imagine that i risks to the privacy and security of both parties involved, customers and deliverymen, are a key aspect to consider for services of this type. In the US there have been several theoretical criticisms but so far it must be noted that there have not been too many major incidents. It is also worth pointing out that the initiative was born for a very specific reason – to counter the theft of parcels left for example on the porch (in the USA in particular the term “porch pirate” is now widespread) or in areas accessible to all. .
For now, as we said, there are no official public communications from Amazon, so we are waiting for more precise information.
