With Amazon Key’s launch, customers and lawyers have lots of questions

Enlarge / IoT products like Amazon Key come with a whole set of risks that consumers aren't equipped to assess themselves. (credit: Amazon)

Last week, Amazon announced a new voluntary service that allows its own contracted delivery personnel to temporarily access customers' homes through a new service dubbed "Amazon Key," which begins Wednesday, November 8.

Privacy experts have wondered what putting such a camera in the home could mean for law enforcement, particularly given last year's episode when Amazon refused to help law enforcement in a murder case in Arkansas. There, investigators attempted to get the company to hand over data collected by a nearby Alexa. If that instance is any indication, Amazon may resist a legal demand to open up an Amazon Key lock.

Beyond concerns about the police, many on Twitter are fundamentally uncomfortable with Amazon Key.

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