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A drive-through for your groceries: According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, that's one of Amazon's many ambitions for the next version of its grocery-delivery service, Fresh. The company will set up a series of "convenience stores," the Journal reports, where it will sell basic goods like milk, produce, and meat.
Some locations will also allow people to pick up orders they placed online. Here's how the Journal described that feature:
For customers seeking a quicker checkout, Amazon will soon begin rolling out designated drive-in locations where online grocery orders will be brought to the car, the people said. The company is developing license-plate reading technology to speed wait times.
That detail about the license-plate readers caught my attention. Scanning the license plates of incoming cars makes sense: If your plate is connected to your Amazon account, the system could alert employees working in the store that you've arrived to pick up your grocery order before you even have a chance to park. If someone met you at the curb with your order in hand, you could be in and out of the lot in less than a minute.
But that's not the only reason implementing a license-plate system would be a smart move for Amazon. If the company can convince you to tell it which car is yours, it could link your license plate number to your Amazon account. Then, if it bought data from another company that shows where else your car has traveled, it could potentially use that information to develop an even more complete picture of your habits, preferences, and personality.
My state has a variety of specialty license places available for an extra ~$35 year, one of them has black text on a dark purple background. I picked that plate in order to reduce the accuracy of scanners trying to read my license plate. What other methods have people come up with?
(Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday October 23 2016, @06:01AM
Which state? That doesn't sound right. Specifically, the address part. I know you can look up such things to find proof of insurance, but you generally need to supply some information first.... like the VIN. I dunno about you, but I can't read somebody's VIN while they're driving.
If you're correct, than anybody can find the owner of any car just from their license plate. If that were true, I think the homicide rates in America would triple. People can't find out where you live from your license plates.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 23 2016, @08:17AM
First hit on google.
http://thelawdictionary.org/article/how-to-find-a-name-address-using-a-license-plate-number/ [thelawdictionary.org]
TLDR: You can in some/most jurisdictions with a formal application form.