Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new bill into law Friday following a
Turn to Tara investigation that exposed serious privacy and safety concerns about a delivery service run by Amazon.
Sen. Kevin Thomas, who drafted the legislation, fought for the creation of the bill after watching News 12's investigation into Amazon's Key for Business delivery service. The service grants Amazon drivers keyless access to buildings.
The legislation prohibits the installation of certain security devices use to control access to common areas of a residential buildings without written permission.
Property owners from New York and as far away as California had Turned to Tara to complain after the devices were installed without their permission, allowing unannounced drivers to enter at will and in some cases causing thousands of dollars in damage to the buildings' intercom systems.
After News 12 began digging for answers, Amazon said that it fired the installers who performed the work without consent.
Thomas, who chairs the Senate Consumer Protection Committee, became outraged as the stories from frustrated tenants and owners began to mount.
The Long Island Democrat proposed legislation to stop it from happening again and got lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to back his bill making it illegal to perform an unwanted installation in New York.