Amazon Shuts Man Out of His Home
Canada Free Press,
by
Ray DiLorenzo
Original Article
Posted By: mc squared,
6/20/2023 10:39:05 AM
Earlier this month, a man claimed that all of his Amazon devices locked him out of his own “smart home” system after he was accused of using a racial slur.
According to Breitbart, a man named Brandon Jackson made the claims in a post on Medium, describing in detail how he was locked out of all of his Amazon devices for about a week before the situation was finally resolved.
“On Wednesday, May 31, 2023, I finally regained access to my Amazon account after an unexpected and unwarranted lockout that lasted nearly a week,” Jackson wrote.This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
columba 6/20/2023 11:05:59 AM (No. 1495912)
ONE MORE THING: Amazon sells porn.
We can get along without Amazon.
11 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
reefdiver 6/20/2023 11:19:50 AM (No. 1495922)
A "smart house"? No thanks.
22 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
bpl40 6/20/2023 11:22:28 AM (No. 1495925)
1984 almost 40 years later. Just as advances in virology were abused to inflict COVID. AI has frightening implications.
18 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/20/2023 11:23:23 AM (No. 1495928)
Sounds like a made-up name.
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 6/20/2023 11:23:34 AM (No. 1495929)
I have a couple of otherwise sensible friends who have Alexa in their homes. I’ve tried to tell them that damn thing is listening to EVERYTHING they say, but I guess they don't believe me or they don’t care. They’ve been seduced by technology.
21 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 6/20/2023 11:40:04 AM (No. 1495948)
Nothing in my home is connected to the internet beyond two computers and a tablet, plus the television. I specifically will NOT purchase any of these "conveniences" which work with the net. Never going to have a doorbell camera on the net, or any sort of lights, door locks, or other stuff on the net.
My door locks are entirely mechanical devices, which work 100% with metal keys. I suppose a garage door opener, 35 years old and very low tech, not working with a phone or anything like that, might be the most 'techie' thing we have for the home.
This is not an accident, this has been a conscious choice to avoid 'smart' things as much as possible. And all these "smart" things are not smart at all.
21 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 6/20/2023 11:40:04 AM (No. 1495949)
Is quality of life enhanced by filling your house with spyware?
16 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
ms1234 6/20/2023 11:42:46 AM (No. 1495953)
The "smartest" thing I have in my house is my cat. Everything I own is "stupid" technology. Even my car has manual roll down windows. The only technology I allow in my house is the TV remote. I use to be my parents tv "remote" as a kid so cut me some slack. ;-)
24 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 6/20/2023 12:07:02 PM (No. 1495982)
I avoid all "smart" devices. I was given an Alexa for Christmas one year, but once I read about it evesdropping on conversations, it was unplugged. If it is now listening, it is listening in a landfill miles away from my house. I consider it an early lesson in creeping Big Brotherism. Never again.
14 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 6/20/2023 12:20:21 PM (No. 1495993)
'Smart house' is going to be one of those oxymorons we have learned to know and love.
Sticks and stones may break your bones but to really foul things up requires a computer.
9 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 6/20/2023 1:01:41 PM (No. 1496014)
Same thing happened to me after I made a simple purchase on Amazon. I try not to buy things on Amazon so it had been a while but the baby shower gifts were registered there. I placed order using the data Amazon had on file for me not thinking that the credit card had expired. In seconds my Amazon account, Firestick, Alexa and doorbell stopped working. Took me 2 weeks to figure out what Amazon wanted to correct the issue. You might think just correct the credit card info but of course my account was disabled too.
9 people like this.
Love my "dumb" house.
Amazon tip: I only place orders from Amazon on duckduckgo, after shadowing me on line after ordering on google. Pushed ads, facebook spots etc. emails telling me my Amazon account needed attention. All this stopped when I use duckduckgo to acess Amazon.
4 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Banjo Willy 6/20/2023 1:12:59 PM (No. 1496023)
Thank you for making my security choices, easier
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
paral04 6/20/2023 1:22:33 PM (No. 1496030)
If anyone had read about the couple in the UK who had ALEXA, they would know that the system is listening to you all the time. The couple had a parrot and when they weren't home the parrot would talk to himself and mention things that it had head in conversations. The couple would come home with boxes of stuff on their doorstep that the bird mentioned and Alexa took that as an order. Technology is not your friend. You need to be careful because you don't know what code is embedded in "Smart Devices".
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
DW626 6/20/2023 1:57:38 PM (No. 1496041)
Siri listens.
While driving with my mom we were talking about trans boys competing with and beating girls in sports.
Anyways I forgot what I had said but my cellphone, which was on the console between front seats said without being prompted that what I said “wasn’t nice.” It freaked my mom and me out and I shut the Siri option down as soon as I stopped the car, and haven’t turned it back on since. I never really used it anyway. So it’s no loss.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Highlander 6/20/2023 2:19:37 PM (No. 1496060)
"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" — Hal 9000: 2001: A Space Odyssey; when Dave asked Hal to open the pod door.
10 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
snakeoil 6/20/2023 2:21:03 PM (No. 1496061)
Love techie stuff. My goal is to control everything I have from my living room easy chair with my cell phone. But there are frustrations. If I say "Watch TCM" I get the response "TCM" not found. The app is called "Watch TCM". So you have to say "Watch Watch TCM." When I was little there were things called TV Dinners. But then the microwave oven was invented For me the internet is the most significant invention since indoor plumbing.
0 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
SALady 6/20/2023 7:40:32 PM (No. 1496231)
#7, sadly, it is.
But it's also sort of how drug dealers get people hooked on drugs. They give them a couple of cheap (or even free) hits of cocaine, and when the person is hooked and can't live without it, suddenly that cocaine is super expensive.
So it is convenient to say "Alexas, play some classic rock music", or to ask it a question, tell it to turn the thermostat down 2 degrees, dim the lights, see who is at the door on your TV, or to order a pizza -- all from the comfort of your easy chair in the living room. But, as this story shows, pretty soon they own you, and it goes from being convenient to being slavery.
3 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Hazymac 6/20/2023 7:52:40 PM (No. 1496236)
A close friend connected everything possible in his home to Alexa, but I warned him that he was being eavesdropped on 24/7, and that no one outside should hear anything said inside. If you install Alexa (or anything similar), Big Brother is listening, and, if necessary, recording. Too much temptation, too much power to trust Amazon, Apple, etc. Orwell warned us.
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
judy 6/21/2023 6:49:34 AM (No. 1496422)
He should op out instead of wishing to regain access...
1 person likes this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 6/21/2023 7:39:12 AM (No. 1496445)
Stupid is as stupid does.
0 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
franq 6/21/2023 8:22:59 AM (No. 1496506)
Never will own Alexa, Siri, Ring, or any other "smart" products knowingly.
Once my current cars go, it will be an interesting search. But hopefully that is 6-7 years away.
The only thing that really impressed me on a "smart" level was a bandmate who controlled his amp presets through his cell phone.
Also the sound guy controlling the digital mixer remotely from his laptop. There is little that software can't do.
Had to watch a hospital pre-admission video recently, and it automatically went on pause the minute I moved to another window.
That was surprising.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
This has been making the rounds on techy websites, but needs to be more widespread. I feel like Diogenes looking for someone who understands what a 'connected' smart home does. Our cars are doing it, and now anything attached to the World Wide Web is squealing on you. We know about our phones and computers, but HVAC systems, your fridge & doorbells do NOT need to be smart.