Amazon reportedly has a ‘key’ to thousands of apartment buildings in US | Hacker News Reader

Amazon reportedly has a ‘key’ to thousands of apartment buildings in US

theverge.com

31 pointsBlackPlot21 comments

My building has this (I’m in San Francisco). It’s been fine. It’s much better than risking packages being left outside the door, where they’re guaranteed to be stolen. The delivery person takes a photo of where they left the package and Amazon sends a notification that includes it.

If anything, it’s cut down on random people being buzzed in because some driver rings all the doors to get in.

So does UPS, FedEx and the USPS though.

Fire codes require that apartment buildings that have locked gates or access points must provide access to police and fire departments. This same code or key is usually provided to delivery services.

Knox boxes (fire key boxes) usually contain things like master keys that you do not want delivery services to have, so in most cases they are given a key, code or have a lockbox to get into the lobby of the building and maybe mailroom, but not much more.

Here in Switzerland we have a system where big apartment buildings allow you to get into the lobby with a PIN code (which regularly rotates - I think it might be weekly).

The Post profits because they waste less time delivering packages, the tenants profit because fewer packages are stolen (or taken back to the post office by the mailperson).

You can get to pretty much any apartment building in the US fairly easily. Just wait for someone to go through the doors and go right after them. I did it all the time when I forgot my keys.

I was going to say the same thing, Amazon drivers already had access by just running behind whoever walked through the door last or left it propped open (every apartment complex I've lived at has doors left propped open by residents)

This key is much less annoying than them having to try to call residents asking about how to deliver their neighbors boxes

Or if they have the buzzers for each apartment, just ring them all. Someone will probably let you in.

What's the movie where the protagonists are debating how to infiltrate an apartment gate when a pair of Girl Scouts come along and just rake one hand across every room's buzzer button, and the door pops right open? Someone I worked with used to share the clip as a case study in opsec.

If I ever catch a delivery person doing that I'll report them to their employer.

Hahah. I'm assuming this is a joke. But for the delivery person they are making the recipient of the package happy AND making their company happy by reducing need for a repeat visit by ringing neighbors to be let in - so I'm afraid your complaint may not get very far.

Go complain to your neighbors instead - aren't they supposed to come down and escort in their guests etc? They are the ones unlocking the door, not UPS!

Yeah, most will call a few neighbors to get let in and someone will let them in.

I've escorted a few people out of the building like that. How people tolerate such trespass is beyond me.

It's called a common key. You can buy them online for a couple bucks. It's a basic tool for pen-testers. Why is this being blown out of proportion?

It's The Verge.

This is probably over engineering though. I know for a fact that the two apartment buildings next door have codes that most of the delivery drivers know for this exact purpose.

They don't have front desks, so it makes sense that they let themselves in.

Is it a security risk for the residents? Maybe. But most would probably vote to allow it given the desire to have the packages delivered.

If you have a Lishi KW1 or SC1, so do you!

My point is that these keys/codes/whatever aren’t particularly strong nor were they meant to be.

This seems like something to watch as it’s not just a key. Amazon is imploring management groups to integrate their software/hardware. This feels like their purchase with ring. It’s another area that Amazon can be in this privacy/surveillance market overnight. “It’s free…”

I just wish there was something more than just this as the story. It feels unfinished.

With other delivery services like UPS, FedEx, etc ... the drivers often also have the keypad codes to gated communities, apartment buildings although the information transfer from residents is less formalized than this Amazon giftcard incentive.

Any time I move into a new apartment or home, I change the locks and give a copy of the new key to the landlord, whether they like it or not.

I refuse to live and sleep somewhere where an unknown number of prior residents may have access to the lock.

One small externality of Amazon's approach to business optimization: Amazon so closely tracks its drivers that they're strongly incentivized to shave seconds off of every delivery. When they come to smaller apartments with push-button buzzers, they'll push every button immediately, not just the buzzer matching their package. It disturbs every occupant, but there's the chance that they get buzzed in a few seconds sooner because a different tenant is hoping for their own package, is expecting a guest, or accepts that this is how Amazon works.

The intercom system at my building is "single user". Only the apartment for the last-pressed buzzer can unlock the door, or activate the microphone. If I do the latter, the person outside is stuck talking to me until I disconnect, or it times out — about a minute, I think.

It doesn't happen very often, but I've left people stuck outside when they've intentionally wasted my time. The best was a couple of Jehova's Witnesses who dragged me out of the shower with their call, then proceeded to grumble that I was wasting their time as they realized they couldn't buzz anyone else.

Sometimes delivery people try the all-buttons thing, but the screen on my intercom unit switches off as soon as they press the next button.

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