That uneasy feeling that seemed to creep across the internet with the news that Amazon could soon gain access to your home with Amazon Key seems to be backed up by a new survey released on Wednesday.
Morning Consult, an online survey and market research company with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., found in a new nationwide poll that 68 percent of U.S. adults said they’re not comfortable giving strangers access to their homes. Those strangers could be dropping off an Amazon package or delivering groceries, according to the question posed.
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The survey also found that 53 percent of respondents said the idea of the virtual key service — that works with smart door locks — makes them “very uncomfortable.”
Morning Consult said 2,201 U.S. adults were polled Oct. 26-30, and majorities of every subgroup polled said they are uncomfortable with allowing delivery drivers access to their house in order to deliver packages or groceries. Even in the 18-29 age group, where folks are usually the most receptive to new technologies, the Key was not a lock.
But for those over 65, it’s practically a non-starter, with 83 percent saying they were uncomfortable with the idea.
The founder and CEO of one smart access system company acknowledged the difficulty in convincing consumers to let strangers into their homes unattended. But Luke Schoenfelder, of Latch, told Morning Consult that people have gotten used to “getting into a stranger’s car or sleeping in a stranger’s home” as he made the connection to companies such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb and the success they now enjoy.
In the move into home security, where package theft is an ongoing concern for its millions of customers, Amazon unveiled the Key and the Cloud Cam last month as an additional product and service for its Prime members. The $119.99, motion-detecting, 1080p HD camera is set for release Nov. 8 in selected markets.
