According to a report from the Daily Caller News Foundation, Amazon acknowledged this week that it had shut off a man’s smart home after a delivery person mistakenly believed he had made a racial statement over his smart doorbell.
Baltimore, Maryland resident Brandon Jackson said that on May 25, Amazon had locked him out of all of his smart gadgets. He stated that his Amazon Echo, which had been unable to use for a week, is connected to a lot of the appliances in his house, including his lights.
Jackson wrote about the mistake in a blog that was published on Medium, saying that it “left me with a home full of inactive devices, a mute Alexa, and many questions.”
When Jackson contacted Amazon to inquire as to why he had been locked out, he was informed in a “somewhat accusatory” manner that a delivery person had claimed to have overheard a racial slur at his residence.
Given that “most delivery people in my neighborhood share the exact same race as myself as well as my family,” he said, the claims “seemed extremely unlikely” and illogical.
No one was at home, according to Jackson when the claimed remark was made. After looking over surveillance footage, he discovered that the driver had received the automatic “Excuse me, may I help you” answer from his Eufy doorbell.
The driver could have not understood the doorbell’s automated response because he saw the driver walking off and using headphones at the time.
Jackson submitted Amazon the video proof, and it took them several days to evaluate it. He was locked out of his smart gadgets throughout that period while the business carried out an internal inquiry.
He was able to get back into his account six days later, according to Jackson.
“If someone purchased a gadget, they should have the right to use it, at the very least, on their personal property, provided it doesn’t harm anybody else. I’m merely spreading my story in the hopes that it won’t occur to anyone else. No matter what their ethnicity, creed, or political views,” Jackson remarked, “If you purchased it, you should OWN it.”
An Amazon representative, Simone Griffin, told the DCNF, “We work hard to create a fantastic experience for consumers while making sure that drivers who drop off Amazon goods feel secure. Our inquiry revealed that the customer in this instance did not behave improperly, and we are now working closely with them to address their concerns while also considering how to avoid a situation like this from occurring in the future.”
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