Amazon is starting to include photos of exactly where packages are left when no one is home to accept them. On one hand, the Photo on Delivery feature is great because you can see where that package is supposed to be. On the other hand, it may feel creepy knowing Amazon is taking picture of your house. If you fall into the latter category, you can turn the feature off. Read on to learn how.
Amazon’s Photo on Delivery feature is available only in a few cities in the United States right now, and will presumably expand to more if the online retailer is pleased with the results. It’s also available only for packages delivered through Amazon Logistics.
The upside for customers is that they can see where a package was really left, and it’s an easy way to tell if it was delivered to the right address. It also gives Amazon an easy way to see if packages were successfully and properly delivered.
The downside is that Amazon will have a database of what our homes look like, and that’s something that could potentially be stolen if the company’s servers get hacked.
You can disable Photo on Delivery, but not until you get at least one package delivered where a pic is taken. Here’s how it works:
If you live in an area where Photo on Delivery is available, you’ll see a snapshot of the package where it was left. Click Don’t take delivery photos to turn off the feature. You can also see Photo on Delivery images when you look at the delivery details for previous orders.
I don’t live in an area where Photo on Delivery is available, so I turned to a Reddit conversation for a screenshot showing the feature. The thread included a few interesting comments, too, where people said the feature showed when packages were delivered to the wrong address, or were left in places where they ended up getting stolen.
Photo on Delivery adds an interesting twist to Amazon’s recent purchase of the doorbell camera maker Ring. Maybe Amazon wants an easy way to snap photos of every package delivery, and not just for those it leaves inside your house.
Doesn’t Google Street view do this already unless you live in an apartment, in which case all the doors look the same anyway!
I love the way you can opt out AFTER they have a photo of your ‘safest’ deliver spot.
Really enjoyed the discussion on Daily Observations. There doesn’t really seem to be a good reason for this, as stated. Any wonder everyone’s looking for ulterior motives. If you want security, you sign for it. Giving Amazon a camera and your door lock is just insane – photographing your delivery is creepy at least, who knows what this data is really for. So the drone knows where to land??
Delivery companies in the U.K. are even taking pictures of large packages delivered inside your home when you are present.
There are so many things that Amazon does that are creepy…