Amazon Key: Just a Few Key Concerns

Trust is a pretty important thing in business. Trust keeps customers coming back. It gives brand marketers a key word that might be second in value only to "quality." And, it plays a central role in data collection and analytics. If people don't trust you enough to share their data with your company that puts the kibosh on your big data analytics efforts.

Trust also is a strange beast in terms of being relative. Who I trust and what I trust them with is likely to be very different from your "who" and "what." Plus, our level of trust varies over time, whether we are talking about business relationships, news sources, or friends. Someone who I might not trust today earns my trust over time. If those who I do trust today violate that trust, they aren't likely to win it back.

So, Amazon's introduction of Amazon Key -- an in-home delivery system -- yesterday struck me as stretching trust just a little too far. Here's how it works: Amazon Prime customers will be able to install an Amazon Cloud Cam that triggers Amazon Key (priced at $249.99 to start), which unlocks their door if they aren't home when the right parcel delivery person approaches their door.

[Read more about Amazon Key on AllAnalytics.com.]