Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good

Posted by

March 31, 2010

So here’s the sales pitch: Amazon wants to film the packaging and preparation of your goods as they get ready to ship out in order to make sure your order is properly fulfilled and addressed. Stills or the whole video are then forwarded along to you, in a perfectly measured act of shifting legal liability for missing or damaged goods to the delivery dudes or good old Joe Consumer. Granted yesterday, the patent for this oh so complex monitoring system also references verification of “collateral items,” which is a fancy way of saying it’ll be used to make sure third party fliers and advertisements make it into the box along with the stuff you actually want. This whole thing is such a rosy and endearing idea, we have to wonder why Amazon hasn’t done up a big press release to let us all know the good news.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET | USPTO | Email this | Comments