After being accused of "racism" by a delivery driver, an Amazon customer who had built a smart home using their products and technology found himself locked out of all of his gadgets. He believes the delivery worker misheard the sound of his robotic doorbell.
Brandon Jackson, who is the protagonist of the story, explained the situation in a blog post. He revealed everything about how the way his home's most important features were locked down while Amazon looked into the racism complaint. Jackson said that the "lockdown" lasted around a week, and after that, he was finally allowed to access his devices again.
He said that the encounter had caused him to reevaluate his relationship with Amazon and that he was now thinking about taking some of the smart home's features apart.
Amazon racist doorbell: Brandon Jackson locked out of his devices
An automated doorbell was mistakenly heard as "racism" by an Amazon delivery person, who then reported it. No one was at home. Before beginning its inquiry, Amazon switched off all the lights and turned off the smart house as a whole.
Brandon said in his post that the day after receiving delivery, he was locked out of his accounts and devices.
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In his blog post, "Here’s where things got even more baffling. First, I have multiple cameras recording everything that happens on my property. If the driver’s claims were accurate, I could easily verify them with video footage. Second, most delivery drivers in my area share the same race as me and my family. It seemed 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)," said Jackson.
Apparently, no one was home, but luckily, he had cameras all around the house. Jackson reviewed the footage and confirmed that no such comments had been made. " Instead, the Eufy doorbell had issued an automated response: “Excuse me, can I help you?” The driver, who was walking away and wearing headphones, must have misinterpreted the message. Nevertheless, by the following day, my Amazon account was locked, and all my Echo devices were logged out," he added.
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