4 ms·

Thanks for the summary but you're burying the lede - what the hell is a racist door bell?

JKCalhoun 3y ago
> what the hell is a racist door bell? Perhaps a door bell that grew up in a well-off (maybe even a gated) community that learned to fear people that are different?
- themaninthedark 3y ago
  /b grows their own AI door bell
rsynnott 3y ago
While I have no idea, my mental image is that it sings the pre-1945 version of the German national anthem at you when you press the button.
phpisthebest 3y ago
Amazon suspended a persons account because a Amazon delivery driver thought they heard a racist comment come from a video doorbell... in reality it was a standard automated response that the customer happen record from another camera but they had to prove to amazon there was no racist comment made, and it took 1 or 2 weeks for them to unsuspend the account During that time all of their Amazon Devices (echo, alexa automation, etc) were also non-functional
- nonethewiser 3y ago
  I don’t even care if it was a racist doorbell - shitty move by Amazon.
  - zyx321 3y ago
    That's the problem with giant do-everything companies like Google and Amazon. People should never be locked out of critical infrastructure without (the equivalent of) a fair trial. I mention Google because they have been banning people who [feces]post on Youtube, locking them out from all services including accessing content they paid for, checking the calendar on their phones, and even receiving emails. It is possible to do better. Valve does what should be the absolute minimum; tracking community forum bans separately from anticheat bans, neither of which stops you from accessing single-player content you paid for.
- B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
  > all of their Amazon Devices (echo, alexa automation, etc) were also non-functional Great way of not-selling those. I already not-bought Kindle because of the Orwell debacle way back when. Not-buying any echo/alexa stuff is clearly the way to go too. I just buy from the store occasionally. Same for Google properties, I don't do squat on anything other than Gmail, don't want that messed up.
NotTheDr01ds 3y ago
It's a separate video on his channel which is probably a better listen than this one. This one is a bit of conjecture, perhaps true. The other has been validated by multiple sources, AFAICT. Short summary - Someone had tied in most of their home automation to Alexa and found their account cancelled suddenly one day. They went through the automated recovery systems and were told to contact support, which they did. Support ended up transferring them to an Amazon exec (let's assume "manager") who told them their account was disabled because an Amazon delivery driver reported that someone said something racist to them over their video doorbell (which wasn't a Ring, ironically). Upon investigating, checking cameras, logs, etc,, the owner determined that (a) no one was home at the time of the delivery, (b) the driver was wearing headphones, (c) the doorbell had done an automated, "Hello, how can I help you?" response to the driver as they were walking away (presumably ring-and-dash or drop-and-dash delivery, as usual). The driver had apparently, with the headphones on, completely misunderstood. It took over a week to get Amazon to review all the evidence and reactivate the account. No apology at that point (although I believe I saw they subsequently have). That's a bad look for Amazon, and the Youtuber makes a valid point that it's a bad idea to trust control of your home to a company that will make such boneheaded decisions. IMHO, the only correct response for Amazon here is firing at least two people involved in the debacle, apologizing publicly, and promising to review and adapt their policies in response to the incident. Any halfway decent PR department at anything other than a mega-monopoly would be scurrying to do exactly that, but not Amazon apparently.
- jefftk 3y ago
  > firing at least two people involved in the debacle The idea that after a mistake companies should fire people leads to company cultures that are overall worse for everyone, including customers/users. Demand that they apologize, even that they give compensation, but not firing.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    During my tike there, Amazon's failure culture, as in yes, mistakes and failures happen, and as long as don't happen twice and lessons are learned nobody gets blame or the axe, was one of the things I liked best. This whole asking for punishment is what actually drives a culture in which these kinds of things do happen more frequently, because everyone involved just wants to cover their asses.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

> what the hell is a racist door bell? Perhaps a door bell that grew up in a well-off (maybe even a gated) community that learned to fear people that are different?

themaninthedark 3y ago
/b grows their own AI door bell

rsynnott 3y ago

While I have no idea, my mental image is that it sings the pre-1945 version of the German national anthem at you when you press the button.

phpisthebest 3y ago

Amazon suspended a persons account because a Amazon delivery driver thought they heard a racist comment come from a video doorbell... in reality it was a standard automated response that the customer happen record from another camera but they had to prove to amazon there was no racist comment made, and it took 1 or 2 weeks for them to unsuspend the account During that time all of their Amazon Devices (echo, alexa automation, etc) were also non-functional

nonethewiser 3y ago
I don’t even care if it was a racist doorbell - shitty move by Amazon.
- zyx321 3y ago
  That's the problem with giant do-everything companies like Google and Amazon. People should never be locked out of critical infrastructure without (the equivalent of) a fair trial. I mention Google because they have been banning people who [feces]post on Youtube, locking them out from all services including accessing content they paid for, checking the calendar on their phones, and even receiving emails. It is possible to do better. Valve does what should be the absolute minimum; tracking community forum bans separately from anticheat bans, neither of which stops you from accessing single-player content you paid for.
B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
> all of their Amazon Devices (echo, alexa automation, etc) were also non-functional Great way of not-selling those. I already not-bought Kindle because of the Orwell debacle way back when. Not-buying any echo/alexa stuff is clearly the way to go too. I just buy from the store occasionally. Same for Google properties, I don't do squat on anything other than Gmail, don't want that messed up.

NotTheDr01ds 3y ago

It's a separate video on his channel which is probably a better listen than this one. This one is a bit of conjecture, perhaps true. The other has been validated by multiple sources, AFAICT. Short summary - Someone had tied in most of their home automation to Alexa and found their account cancelled suddenly one day. They went through the automated recovery systems and were told to contact support, which they did. Support ended up transferring them to an Amazon exec (let's assume "manager") who told them their account was disabled because an Amazon delivery driver reported that someone said something racist to them over their video doorbell (which wasn't a Ring, ironically). Upon investigating, checking cameras, logs, etc,, the owner determined that (a) no one was home at the time of the delivery, (b) the driver was wearing headphones, (c) the doorbell had done an automated, "Hello, how can I help you?" response to the driver as they were walking away (presumably ring-and-dash or drop-and-dash delivery, as usual). The driver had apparently, with the headphones on, completely misunderstood. It took over a week to get Amazon to review all the evidence and reactivate the account. No apology at that point (although I believe I saw they subsequently have). That's a bad look for Amazon, and the Youtuber makes a valid point that it's a bad idea to trust control of your home to a company that will make such boneheaded decisions. IMHO, the only correct response for Amazon here is firing at least two people involved in the debacle, apologizing publicly, and promising to review and adapt their policies in response to the incident. Any halfway decent PR department at anything other than a mega-monopoly would be scurrying to do exactly that, but not Amazon apparently.

jefftk 3y ago
> firing at least two people involved in the debacle The idea that after a mistake companies should fire people leads to company cultures that are overall worse for everyone, including customers/users. Demand that they apologize, even that they give compensation, but not firing.
- hef19898 3y ago
  During my tike there, Amazon's failure culture, as in yes, mistakes and failures happen, and as long as don't happen twice and lessons are learned nobody gets blame or the axe, was one of the things I liked best. This whole asking for punishment is what actually drives a culture in which these kinds of things do happen more frequently, because everyone involved just wants to cover their asses.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]