Burglary fear over delivery app that shows if you’re out
THERE’S little more frustrating than waiting in all day for a delivery – only for the driver to pitch up just after you pop out for a loaf of bread.
But one courier business trying to wipe out that problem has run into criticism for creating a phone app that could raise security risks for householders at the same time.
The app from parcel firm DPD uses satellite technology to tell drivers when customers are out and can alert them when they return home. Users are also encouraged to enter personal details about their daily routine.
The idea is DPD staff can then organise their rounds to avoid times customers are regularly out, for example on the school run, and can easily reschedule deliveries if they are missed. However, experts warn that the app – called Your DPD – could leave customers vulnerable to burglaries if the firm’s systems got hacked, telling would-be criminals precisely when to strike.
Harmit Kambo, of human rights watchdog Privacy International said: ‘The kind of very sensitive data that this app uses is a honeypot for hackers and burglars.
‘While we would hope DPD has taken appropriate measures to ensure information about their customers’ whereabouts is pro- tected, data breaches are all too common and even seemingly secure databases of information do regularly get hacked.
‘People should seriously consider whether they want information about whether they’re at home or not to be put into this kind of database.’
DPD raised eyebrows last year after introducing a policy whereby drivers took pictures of customers’ doors as proof they had visited the property, which some described as ‘creepy’.
Criminals are increasingly using advances in digital technology to plan burglaries. The Financial Ombudsman Service warned last year that social media users are becoming vulnerable to break-ins after posting Facebook statuses or Twitter updates about going on holiday.
Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan was burgled in 2013 after posting a message on Twitter saying she was home alone.
She was locked in the utility room of her £2.2million home while her property was raided, following a tweet to her then 335,000 followers which said her footballer boyfriend Scott Sinclair was away.
DPD, which delivers for retailers including Asos and Amazon, employs more than 9,000 staff in the UK and delivers 200million parcels a year. It is owned by French company La Poste. Its free app was released this week.
The firm said users of the app would have to explicitly agree to enable features such as those that would let DPD know if they were home or not.
A spokesman said: ‘The customer profile data is protected and not accessible in any way – it is simply used to generate the one-hour delivery window which tells the driver when to deliver to that customer.
‘All of DPD’s systems are independently checked by third party companies as well as our parent company La Poste on an ongoing basis, to ensure they meet the highest security standards.’
DPD chief executive Dwain McDonald said: ‘Our mission is to use the best technology available to put customers in complete control of their own deliveries.’