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Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Tenants at a property in New York City just struck a deal in what is both a wildly reasonable ask but also a crucial precedent at a time of increasing surveillance—their landlord has to give them physical keys to their building.
Five tenants in Hell’s Kitchen sued their landlord in March after the owners installed a Latch smart lock on the building last year. It is unlocked with a smartphone, and reportedly granted tenants access to the lobby, elevator, and mail room. But the group that sued their landlords saw this keyless entry as harassment, an invasion of privacy, and simply inconvenient.
“We are relieved that something as simple as entering our home is not controlled by an internet surveillance system and that because we will now have a mechanical key they will not be tracking our friends and our family,” 67-year-old tenant Charlotte Pfahl, who has lived in the building for 45 years, told the New York Post.
Source: After Smart Lock Allegedly Traps Senior in Apartment, Tenants Sue for Physical Keys and Win
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Thursday May 09 2019, @07:16AM (2 children)
Sorry, but any lock to a residence that only unlocks via a smartphone just seem bad. Running out of battery would be bad enough, but I've got friends that break theirs rather frequently. It would suck to be locked out of your house because you dropped your phone.
Also, that would limit people's choice of phones. Many seniors don't even want smartphones. Plus it might be potentially hard to get on a budget for some people on fixed incomes.
(Score: 4, Funny) by kazzie on Thursday May 09 2019, @07:37AM
Don't worry. If your phone is broken or lost, I'm sure you can ask the smart lock company to let you in.
All you need to do is call them on your, er, phone....
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:20PM
Some people don't even have smartphones.
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