Amazon’s “long arm” is among the longest in the tech industry, itself notorious for corporations trampling on their customers’ and users’ privacy, and sometimes even civil rights.
Thanks to a plethora of services and devices, the Seattle-based giant has been able to literally reach into people’s homes like no other.
Now a story tells of an incident when a seemingly innocent user suffered, at the same time bringing up the question of how smart exactly Amazon’s “Smart Home” devices, and the infrastructure/processes behind them are.
Not the worst thing in the world, you might say – to get locked out of your Amazon account. Might even be good for your overall well-being. But in this case, the reason is pretty bad – an accusation of racism, that reliable sources say is baseless.
It all started in late May, with an Amazon delivery to the front door of a customer identified as Brandon Jackson, and ended in the said citizen being blocked from using “smart home” devices like Amazon Echo.
Another Amazon “smart home” device was involved- the Ring doorbell. More specifically, a delivery driver accused Jackson of making racist comments, through the device.
According to Jackson – who has not provided evidence, such as screenshots – but with Louis Rossmann now – considered a trusted source – claiming to have seen the audio/video recordings and emails to back the story up – all that actually happened was the Ring doorbell spouting out an automated response, “Excuse me, can I help you?”
Anyway, Jackson also claims that at the time he was supposed to engage in a form of racist abuse, he wasn’t even home.
But the driver who delivered the package was insistent. And Amazon – in possession, of course, of data from the man’s property – chose to err on the driver’s side. The result – “smart home” devices, all of them, were disabled as punishment.
The only sound conclusion to the case is that letting Big Tech into your home – and life – by way of becoming dependent on their services, their interpretations, and ultimately their mercy – is a genuinely bad idea.
The post Homeowner Locked Out Of Amazon Account Over False Racism Accusation appeared first on Reclaim The Net.
Reclaim The Net is a free speech and online privacy organization that defends our individual liberty by pushing back against big tech and media gatekeepers. Much of their work focuses on exposing digital tyrants and promoting free speech and privacy-friendly alternative online services. Visit reclaimthenet.org