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Amazon shuts down customer's smart home for a week after delivery driver claimed he heard racist slur through Ring doorbell
June 15, 2023, 10:45 AM
stoic-oneAmazon shuts down customer's smart home for a week after delivery driver claimed he heard racist slur through Ring doorbell
For those of you who use 3rd party "smart home" type "home automation", which as an automation guy, I pretty much steer clear of.
Amazon shuts down customer's smart home for a week after delivery driver claimed he heard racist slur through Ring doorbell - even though no one was homequote:
Amazon reportedly shut down a customer's smart home after the delivery driver claimed he heard a racial slur coming through the doorbell, even though no one was home.
Brandon Jackson, of Baltimore, Maryland, came home on May 25 to find that he had been locked out of his Amazon Echo, which many devices, including his lights, are connected to.
He would later learn that Amazon locked him out of his account after a delivery driver dropped off a package the day before. Jackson, an engineer at Microsoft, said 'everything seemed fine' after the package arrived at his home and had initially thought he was locked out because someone had tried to 'access my account repeatedly, triggering a lockout.'
But none of that was true. A representative directed him to an email he received from an executive that provided a phone number to call. When he called the number, he was told in a 'somewhat accusatory' tone that the driver had reported 'receiving racist remarks' from his doorbell.
'This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa, and a lot of questions,' he wrote on Medium.
Jackson, who is black, said most of the neighborhood and its delivery drivers are also African American and it would be 'highly unlikely that we would make such remarks.'
'Finally, when I asked what time the alleged incident occurred, I realized it was practically impossible for anyone in my house to have made those comments, as nobody was home around that time (approximately 6:05 PM),' he wrote.
After reviewing the doorbell footage, he learned the device had given an automatic reply, saying: 'Excuse me, can I help you?'
He also said the video showed the driver had been wearing headphones during the interaction and 'must have misinterpreted the message.'
The next day, he was completely locked out of his account and it was 'rendered unusable during their internal investigation.'
The Baltimore native claimed to have sent over video evidence to Amazon and didn't hear back for days. When he did, he was told it would take two business days to resolve.
It wasn't until six days later he regained access to his account, with 'no follow-up email to inform me of the resolution,' which has 'led me to question my relationship with Amazon.'
'After nearly a decade of loyalty, I’ve been given a harsh reminder that a misunderstanding can lead to such drastic measures,' he wrote. 'It seems more reasonable to handle such issues in a more compartmentalized way, rather than a blanket shutdown of all services.
'Due to this experience, I am seriously considering discontinuing my use of Amazon Echo devices and will caution others about this incident.'
The University of Maryland graduate said he is now considering using Raspberry Pi devices, rather than those connected to Amazon.
Amazon told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'We work hard to provide customers with a great experience while also ensuring drivers who deliver Amazon packages feel safe. In this case, we learned through our investigation that the customer did not act inappropriately, and we’re working directly with the customer to resolve their concerns while also looking at ways to prevent a similar situation from happening again.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Jackson for comment.
More at link
June 15, 2023, 10:49 AM
Patenquote:
Originally posted by stoic-one:
More at link
You couldn't post the rest?
June 15, 2023, 10:52 AM
BlackmoreMy home will remain as stupid as possible for as long as possible.
Harshest Dream, Reality
June 15, 2023, 10:53 AM
stoic-onequote:
Originally posted by Paten:
quote:
Originally posted by stoic-one:
More at link
You couldn't post the rest?
Originally saw this yesterday on another site... I went back and got the last of the article, but the pictures at the link also help provide some, uhhh, "context".

June 15, 2023, 10:55 AM
mutedbladeHe won’t do anything about it though. People like that are too stupid to realize they aren’t in control of their own household and will continue to go along with the bullshit.
___________________________
No thanks, I've already got a penguin.
June 15, 2023, 10:58 AM
smschulzServes you right, not for anything said but letting them have control.
June 15, 2023, 11:03 AM
selogicAmazon would really be pissed at what was said around my house .

And before anybody freaks out , I'm not talking about racial shit .
June 15, 2023, 11:08 AM
dsietsIt must have changed settings to the "Samuel L. Jackson" greeting.
June 15, 2023, 11:11 AM
trapper189The most interesting part to me is Amazon isn’t even denying they did this. Guilty until proven innocent.
Welcome our new corporate overlords.
Think about all the businesses that refused you service because you wouldn’t wear a mask or banks that won’t service you because you don’t sell approved products. Think of the companies you are tied into and what happens when they decide you are a deplorable.
June 15, 2023, 11:14 AM
selogicNext time read the fine print in your contract .Giving these jackasses that kind of control over your personal property is insane .
June 15, 2023, 11:18 AM
trapper189Nobody reads the fine print.
The second most interesting thing in the article is the guy saying he might get rid of the Amazon automation stuff. Might?

June 15, 2023, 11:22 AM
Veeperquote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
Nobody reads the fine print.
The second most interesting thing in the article is the guy saying he might get rid of the Amazon automation stuff. Might?
I still don’t understand the appeal. Turning lights and music on and off is a stupid reason to have these things.
“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.”—H.L. Mencken June 15, 2023, 11:29 AM
stoic-oneAs I noted above, I'm an automation guy, but I do it on the industrial side, not commercial or residential. I've automated a fair number of things in my house, but it's all custom stuff, and all point-to-point. I'm under no illusions that most can NOT do what I do at my house, it's simply not convenient for the average Joe. It's also no where near as tightly integrated, so that would put off the average homeowner too, it works for me because I'm used to it. That said, the remote portion of even my stuff doesn't work if there is no power or internet access, end to end.
It should seem obvious to most that if you can't control it, you don't own it. Even though you've paid for it, Amazon owns your stuff if they can cut your services off. Same goes for Google and their "smart home" stuff.
June 15, 2023, 11:42 AM
bald1quote:
Originally posted by Blackmore:
My home will remain as stupid as possible for as long as possible.
Well said and reflects my attitude as well.
And zip Wi-Fi gizmos like meat thermometers, etc. Don't need 'em. Don't want 'em!
Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club!
USN (RET), COTEP #192
June 15, 2023, 11:46 AM
Balzé Halzéquote:
Originally posted by selogic:
Amazon would really be pissed at what was said around my house .

And before anybody freaks out , I'm not talking about racial shit .
I couldn't care less even if you were saying vile racist shit in your own house. It's your house for chrissakes.
And yeah, I can live without all that smart crap in my house.
~Alan
Acta Non Verba
NRA Life Member (Patron)
God, Family, Guns, Country
Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan
June 15, 2023, 11:50 AM
Blume9mmYep, the homeowner is the biggest idiot in this story.
My Native American Name:
"Runs with Scissors"
June 15, 2023, 12:05 PM
HRKWe have a few Amazon devices, setup 3 automated lights and some echo reminders for my 85 year old father, take you pills, get up and walk, call so and so, turn on and off lights, and gave him simple voice commands for these things.
But turning off services on a drivers comments, that is over the line....
June 15, 2023, 12:06 PM
12131quote:
Originally posted by Blackmore:
My home will remain as stupid as possible...
Yup.
Q
June 15, 2023, 12:39 PM
MikeGLIWhen I bought my Sonos, I specifically bought the one that didn’t have the Alexa interface. I don’t care for any of that shit.
NRA Life Member
Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat. June 15, 2023, 12:45 PM
6gunsThe extent of my home smartness is a Nest thermostat....which never worked like it was supposed to and actually ran the heat way up when I wasn't even home for days. I found a hack online and turned it into a "regular" thermostat. Best move I made.
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