[EricSu]

First sentence: "According to the patent, the drones will be able to track the location of the person it is delivering to by pulling data from their smartphone."

Further down: "Using Audi's...communications system...DHL delivery drivers would track a customer's vehicle over a specified period of time and then use a digital access code to unlock the boot. This code would then expire as soon as the boot was shut."

...well this is all a little more unsettling than having your mailman or a FedEx driver drop by your house

[7Z7]

Don't opt for that service then. If you are more comfortable with it, just tick the "Deliver to my home" box..

[Raphmedia]

It's probably only an option in the amazon mobile app. I doubt they would track your phone with NSA style tech.

[JustThrowinAway]

If the issue is someone knowing your whereabouts during the day, hopefully you consider it pretty unsettling that everyone who knows your address can be reasonably certain where you are between 6 PM and 7 AM.

That being said, I can see being uncomfortable with them having access to your trunk.

[maratd]

It's not unsettling to know where a person might be in the middle of the night.

It's unsettling to know with absolute precise certainty where a person is at all times of the day. It's even more unsettling to know that a retailer knows where their customers are at all times of the day.

This is Apple/Google's fault. It really wouldn't be hard to add a section to settings that very clearly defines which apps have which permissions, and make it easy to turn off permissions for specific apps. Google tried something like this, but backtracked quickly. Instead, they need to double down and kick out any apps that crash if they don't have permissions enabled for specific functions.

[vowelless]

There is reasonable expectation that people can drop by when you are "at home".

But when driving around on 5th avenue, seeing a DHL truck chasing you around? That's just not a reasonable expectation.

[JustThrowinAway]

Why not?

The reason these companies deliver to an address is because historically, that is the most convenient way for them to get your package to you.

Now it would be more convenient for you (and less so for them, given the amount of effort that goes into route planning) to deliver to wherever you are.

A truck would hardly 'chase you around', but might follow you until you've parked, and give the package to you then.

I'd say the service places an unreasonable expectation on the shipping company, rather than on the consumer.

[nly]

How the hell do they plan to plan efficient deliveries to moving targets?