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Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

theintercept.com

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Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#11

Post by mimixco »

mc32 wrote: post #7
tj-teej wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think it's to improve reliability of their deliveries. I see why you would be concerned, but retail stores have had security guards for my whole lifetime...

Yep. Both Fed-Ex and Amazon have an interest in preventing theft as well as fraud (false claims of non-delivery), and they see a business opportunity in addition to shrinkage minimization with the perk of customer psychological comfort to boot.

Give me a break. This is not about shoplifting in retail stores! Amazon is now helping cops surveille people in their own homes via Alexa and Ring.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#12

Post by mc32 »

mimixco wrote: post #11
mc32 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Both Fed-Ex and Amazon have an interest in preventing theft as well as fraud (false claims of non-delivery), and they see a business opportunity in addition to shrinkage minimization with the perk of customer psychological comfort to boot.

Give me a break. This is not about shoplifting in retail stores! Amazon is now helping cops surveille people in their own homes via Alexa and Ring.

Theft = vernacular porch piracy. Prevention = happy shoppers. Happy shoppers = more sales. More sales = happy company.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#13

Post by tracker1 »

jbarberu wrote: post #9

As long as people don't point their cameras at public spaces, i.e. the streets, I don't see a problem with this. I wouldn't personally trust a company to handle my video feed, but that's just me.

What's wrong with pointing a camera at a public space?

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#14

Post by tracker1 »

mimixco wrote: post #5

You have to ask yourself, why is a retail company (which started as an online bookstore) in the least bit interested in the police business? This is a disturbing trend. It seems that, as tech companies get larger, they are giving themselves over to the surveillance state with ever more enthusiasm.

Easy.. package theft alone probably costs Amazon millions every year. If more customers have a doorbell camera that captures motion activity, more thieves can be caught, and the less theft will happen. It's actually a very good pairing.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#15

Post by mimixco »

tracker1 wrote: post #14
mimixco wrote: post #5

You have to ask yourself, why is a retail company (which started as an online bookstore) in the least bit interested in the police business? This is a disturbing trend. It seems that, as tech companies get larger, they are giving themselves over to the surveillance state with ever more enthusiasm.

Easy.. package theft alone probably costs Amazon millions every year. If more customers have a doorbell camera that captures motion activity, more thieves can be caught, and the less theft will happen. It's actually a very good pairing.

That's a facile answer and doesn't explain why so many other big tech companies are signing up for the survelliance economy.

Package theft is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and can't amount to more than the equivalent losses from shoplifting if they ran retail stores.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#16

Post by mimixco »

mc32 wrote: post #12
mimixco wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a break. This is not about shoplifting in retail stores! Amazon is now helping cops surveille people in their own homes via Alexa and Ring.

Theft = vernacular porch piracy. Prevention = happy shoppers. Happy shoppers = more sales. More sales = happy company.

You're naive if you think this about package theft. Show me one place where that is even mentioned on Ring's website or docs.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#17

Post by mc32 »

mimixco wrote: post #16
mc32 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theft = vernacular porch piracy. Prevention = happy shoppers. Happy shoppers = more sales. More sales = happy company.

You're naive if you think this about package theft. Show me one place where that is even mentioned on Ring's website or docs.

Not sure about their marketing, but I know how and why people use it in their apartments and homes.

If curious get on one of the mentioned neighborhood apps, see how people use these devices: package theft, suspicious people/cars, vagrants/unstable folks, public disturbance (skaboarders scratching cars, etc.,) early hours canvassing by thieves, etc...

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#18

Post by mimixco »

mc32 wrote: post #12
mimixco wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a break. This is not about shoplifting in retail stores! Amazon is now helping cops surveille people in their own homes via Alexa and Ring.

Theft = vernacular porch piracy. Prevention = happy shoppers. Happy shoppers = more sales. More sales = happy company.

Shoppers do not care about package theft or any other loss- making properties of a business.

Show me one place where package theft is even mentioned on Ring's website or in their doc. Is isn't.

It naive to think that Amazon is worried about package theft and that's why they bought Ring. Too many other tech companies have signed up for the surveillance economy for that to be true.

What's the real reason?

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#19

Post by CryptoPunk »

mimixco wrote: post #15
tracker1 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy.. package theft alone probably costs Amazon millions every year. If more customers have a doorbell camera that captures motion activity, more thieves can be caught, and the less theft will happen. It's actually a very good pairing.

That's a facile answer and doesn't explain why so many other big tech companies are signing up for the survelliance economy. Package theft is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and can't amount to more than the equivalent losses from shoplifting if they ran retail stores.

Package theft affects their margins. They will have a strong financial motive to minimize it. No conspiracy theory required.

It's also a moral outrage, when a subset of the population blatantly preys on others, and perpetrating the vast majority of thefts while constituting a tiny proportion of the population. There needs to be a strong response to these types of people for the safety of everyone else.

Re: Amazon's Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Dirtbag Criminals”

#20

Post by Nasrudith »

mimixco wrote: post #18
mc32 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theft = vernacular porch piracy. Prevention = happy shoppers. Happy shoppers = more sales. More sales = happy company.

Shoppers do not care about package theft or any other loss- making properties of a business. Show me one place where package theft is even mentioned on Ring's website or in their doc. Is isn't. It naive to think that Amazon is worried about package theft and that's why they bought Ring. Too many other tech companies have signed up for the surveillance economy for that to be true. What's the real reason?

Loss aversion is a real thing - people can and do decide to go brick and mortar because of being afraid of package theft. It isn't realistically a big issue but people care about it a lot.

As for why I would guess wanting better rates from turning bits to cash.

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