For a long time, it looked as if the Amazon Dash Button would not find its way into Germany.
However, the button has been available in Germany since the middle/end of 2016.

Amazon Prime customers should not ignore data protection when using the Dash Button.
This is because there is a risk that customers will become extremely transparent and their actions predictable, which can be exploited by companies for commercial purposes.

Amazon Dash Button as an everyday helper

The Amazon Dash Button offers consumers or entrepreneurs (depending on who uses the button) enormous convenience.
Instead of having to go to the supermarket themselves, all they have to do is press a button and the ordered item is delivered within the next few days.
However, users have to give up some of their privacy for this convenience.

To use the Amazon Dash Button, you don’t need a lot of IT knowledge.
The button is very easy to set up and operate.
The Dash Button is connected directly to Amazon via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The application on the smartphone can now be used to specify which item should be ordered when the button is pressed and in what quantity.
However, only one item can be specified per button.

If the consumer now presses the Dash button, an order is immediately placed with Amazon without the consumer having to sit down at their computer or order the goods “laboriously” via smartphone.

So far, however, the button can only be used by Prime customers and only a small range of products is available for consumers to order.
According to Amazon, however, this is set to change in the near future.

Dash Button has order protection

Amazon also introduced order protection with the first version of the Dash Button.
If the button is pressed once, the item can only be ordered again once the old order has been completed.
This is to prevent customers from accidentally pressing the button more than once or children from tampering with the button.
But has Amazon thought about data protection as well as order protection?

Risks in the area of data protection – the transparent customer

In principle, the Amazon Dash Button should not be demonized from the outset.
It offers advantages for both the consumer and the business providing the goods.
However, consumers should be aware that by using it, they are exposing a huge part of their privacy.
Especially if they use several Amazon Dash Buttons.

The more often a customer uses the Dash button, the more detailed the information Amazon receives.
Together with other order information, Amazon is able to create a huge user profile.
After a very short time, the company knows when the consumer has run out of toilet paper or shampoo, for example.
With this user profile, it would theoretically be possible for Amazon to ship goods without the Dash Button in the future.
This is because these are usually everyday goods that are ordered very regularly and usually at the same intervals.

More extensive user profiles than before?

Although it was sometimes possible for Amazon to create such user profiles via normal orders, until then the customer usually bought everyday goods more or less anonymously in the supermarket.
Whether this will change in the future with the Dash Button remains to be seen.

User profile can be used extensively by the company

However, the Dash Button has many advantages for the company behind it, which may well be to the detriment of the user.
The user profile allows the company to advertise specific products at specific times and influence the customer’s purchasing decision.
It is also possible for the company to dynamically change the prices for the product ordered by the Dash Button.
The problem here is that the price change is only visible on the smartphone.
The user only receives a separate notification if the price increases by more than 10%.

The system behind the Amazon Dash Buttons is enticingly simple and also highly interesting for other companies.
It facilitates online purchasing enormously and makes it particularly appealing to the user in order to generate the highest possible turnover.
According to the current legal situation, the use of the buttons is a borderline area.
It remains to be seen what stance the courts will take in future with regard to any questions that arise.