Posted on 06/13/2023 4:59:13 AM PDT by MtnClimber
You no longer control your home. Amazon does.
“Hey kids, be careful. If Alexa hears you say the wrong thing, nothing in the house will work anymore.”
They say that a fool and his cloud are easily parted.
We talk a lot about deplatforming, but when a single corporation doesn’t just control a site you use, but controls most of your life, everything from your doorbell to your vacuum, your music and your lightbulbs, and it decides that your politics are bad, you’ve got problems.
That’s exactly the situation that people put themselves in when they rely on Amazon or Google Home to control their smart home only to realize that they no longer control their home.
A touchy corporation that celebrates Pride Month and BLM all year round does. Beware of offending it.
A package was delivered to my house on Wednesday, May 24, and everything seemed fine. The following day, however, I found that my Echo Show had signed out, and I was unable to interact with my smart home devices…
The representative told me I should have received an email, which I indeed found in my inbox. It was from an executive at Amazon. As I dialed the number provided in the email, I half-wondered if Amazon was experiencing some issues and I was unwittingly falling into a scam.
When I connected with the executive, they asked if I knew why my account had been locked. When I answered I was unsure, their tone turned somewhat accusatory. I was told that the driver who had delivered my package reported receiving racist remarks from my “Ring doorbell”
Brandon Jackson, a Microsoft software engineer, who is writing this is actually black.
I 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.
Since everything is centralized, losing your Amazon account also kills the smart home setup meaning that everything from thermostats to lights to vacuums might not work anymore.
However, I question why my entire smart home system had to be rendered unusable during their internal investigation. It seems more sensible to impose a temporary delivery restriction or purchasing ban on my account. Submitting video evidence from multiple angles right after my initial call with the executive appeared to have little impact on their decision to disable my account.
The short answer is because Amazon wields nearly unlimited power and sees no reason to compromise when cracking down. A single account provides better control and more leverage to punish anyone it doesn’t like....
Even your cell phone can listen to what is said in its vicinity.
Big Bezos is listening
I use to own Amazon stock. It's this kind of thinking that stopped that.
Why people would go out of their way to invite potentially “Woke” companies into their homes, much less the ability to control their appliances, will forever escape me.
Right...they need to wean themselves OFF of that association. The Fed can obstruct or cut off at will
Not only can it listen, it does, even when it’s not supposed to. And their AI continually monitors and makes marketing suggestions.
Just a few of my examples:
My phone is the only device with location turned on, so I can use maps via Android Auto when traveling. I left the house one day without my phone for an errand, and when I returned my phone asked me about my visit with that retailer. I was being tracked, via my Ford Escape’s satellite system, even without my phone in the car.
I was discussing what to put under out cat boxes at our new house, and I suggested the WeatherTech mats for the house. I had ordered from WT years ago, but opted out of emails long ago. By the time I got back to my computer I had a marketing email from them, and the first suggestion was the mats we were just discussing.
Last, just two weeks ago I was sitting in my car waiting for the wife, who was shopping. I had the phone plugged in with maps on the display, and a suggestion for a podcast about intermittent fasting came up. I do restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting, and we were just discussing that with friends the day prior.
It’s everywhere — you can’t stop it. And I’m certain AI is making these suggestions. They’re far too specific, tailored and sudden for “human hands” to be involved.
amazon is populated with thieves that steal from your account
Bkmk
I have NONE of that crap in my condo; I also have an old 2006 (upgraded to 4G in 2018) Flip Phone.
I know I’m old fashioned and always have been, but for the life of me I cannot fathom why all these people connect ALL their devices to their phones, or buy all these phone connected devices. I just don’t need to adjust my thermostat when I’m not in my house. I don’t need to be able to see what’s in my fridge when I’m not in the kitchen.
The ring cameras are a good idea because they can prevent crime.
But come on! Your entire home??
The love of a smart phone or in this case a smart home is the root of all evil.
I have never owned a smart phone.
I had a mobile phone but gave it up over two decades ago.
I live in peace.
At least when I’m not on the internet and logged in to places like FR.
i find this difficult to believe ... if true, amazon would be opening themselves to monumental lawsuits from people hurt precipitously stumbling around in the dark, no heat, frozen pipes, missed calls, missed appointments, you name it ...
nonetheless, it’s utterly insane to pay to have a 1984-style device spying on you 24x7x365 ...
Centrally controlled is central control. Nothing like one central place controlling your life.
ANYTHING wired to the Internet is being looked at or listened to. Spying on you at all times.
I draw a line at ‘smart door locks’... Anything can be hacked and I don’t want to be locked out - or in...
Not without depleting the battery at the same rate it does when you are conversing. An idle cell phone sends a ping to the tower every few seconds. In conversation it must send a message to the tower every .020 seconds, which is 50 per second. The battery drain is noticeable.
Not without rapid depletion of the battery, which you would notice. The only thing that your cell phone does that you could consider spying is pinging the tower every few seconds in order to maintain the registration, and pass it to the next tower if you are moving.
Smart home is an oxymoron to my mind.
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