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Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

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Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#141
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you attempt to use a credit card that you haven't used in years, the bank will similarly ask you to verify your identity. I don't think it's weird that unused valuable accounts need re-identification when you start to use them again. I don't mind anti-spam measures in cases which are common spam techniques. Hijacking unused accounts is common enough to warrant an approach like this.

But instagram is not a bank. I understand not wanting yet another company to have my photo (which nowadays is pretty much knowing who you are) + phone number. Plus it shouldn't require personal identification to post a photo online, especially given how easy it has became to filter out illegal content automatically.

Both sides are reasonable, a common form of spam uses hacked accounts that have grown organically, the normal way, and have then been abandoned. Because they have been used the normal way they are ranked higher than accounts created by bots. So it isn’t that strange that the account is flagged if it suddenly starts posting and the first post is some product.

It’s also reasonable not to want to provide Instagram not to have too much information because after all it is Meta, however it’s debatable whether sharing a photo with a photo sharing service is too much information.

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#142
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

What is the problem of friends or family using his affiliate links? This is why they are for no?

So that people pay the full price but he gets something out of it. Who cares who makes the purchase?

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#143
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

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

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#144
post #12

For those who don't watch the video: This is about his affiliate account. It is surprising, that there is so little competition for affiliates these days. Amazon seems to be almost the only game in town. Sure, there are thousands of other affiliate programs. But they pay surprisingly little. Often affiliates earn only like $0.05 per click (on average). While the same company pays $1 per click on other channels like G…

They're not "afraid" of getting scammed. They get scammed often. Affiliate marketers often use shady techniques to get the click. It's a tale as old as time. Wasn't there some browser extension years ago that was inserting it's Amazon affiliate link into webpages?[1] A large amount of the spam we receive in our email is ulimately just some affiliate trying to earn a commission. Affiliates don't have ethical rules the…

Shouldn't those activities create patterns which are easy to detect?

A million visitors and just one sale -> Something is wrong

Mostly repeat customers -> Something is wrong

How would a scammer bring in a steady stream of new customers?

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#145
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

It's not just Amazon. All big tech companies have this "trigger happy" approach to closing down accounts. Especially payment companies. I believe we need to pass down new consumer laws to protect the people. We pretty much rely on their services and they have no accountability.

The worst are banks and payment processors who sttaight out censor legal businesses.

If porn/weed/crypto or other stuff is legal, then the bank should not be moral police and close their account. Banks are not police, or judicary system and one cannot run a company without a bank account.

If they explain this with risk, then there should be some special state run bank that handles higher risk customers - and for example freezes money for some time to check everything. But at least does not close the account

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#146
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

> The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies He has 1.8 million subscribers and talks about gear. There's no way his affiliate purchases were done by "friends and family" in any significant number above 0.1% to even matter. It's just Amazon payback BS.

Hm if he has 1.8 million subscribers, I wonder how small is " small amount of revenue from his affiliate links" for him.

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#147
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese point system is exactly what this reminds me of. It is ironic that unrestrained capitalism actually ends in a variant of communism where it are the corporations, rather than the party, that rule society.

> It is ironic that unrestrained capitalism actually ends in a variant of communism where it are the corporations, rather than the party, that rule society Communism is when all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. So pure communism precludes corporations that are owned by private individuals.

Perhaps you should explain what is the difference for the 99.99% of people that don't own the big capital.

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#148
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

It's not just Amazon. All big tech companies have this "trigger happy" approach to closing down accounts. Especially payment companies. I believe we need to pass down new consumer laws to protect the people. We pretty much rely on their services and they have no accountability.

You'll have to outbid the payments the tech companies have on the senators they own. You need more money than Vangaurd and Blackrock's A.L.A.D.D.I.N

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#149
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies He has 1.8 million subscribers and talks about gear. There's no way his affiliate purchases were done by "friends and family" in any significant number above 0.1% to even matter. It's just Amazon payback BS.

Hm if he has 1.8 million subscribers, I wonder how small is " small amount of revenue from his affiliate links" for him.

He says in the video an approximate amount, I don't remember exactly the number, but he said that his energy bill is 4x the amount he gets from the affiliate program.

Re: Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video]

#150
post #28

Summary: The YouTuber had his Amazon affiliate account canceled after 7 years without warning or evidence of wrongdoing. The reason given was that purchases made through his links were for personal use or made by friends and family, which he denies. He finds the timing suspicious as it came a week after he made a video criticizing Amazon for canceling a customer's account for a racist doorbell claim. He argues that t…

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

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.
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