Amazon cancels my account after exposing account lockout for “racist doorbell” [video] • Hacker News Board

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

#331

Post by JohnFen » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:40 PM UTC

flagrant_taco wrote: post #256

comboy wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Posting to Instagram really isn't the same as posting a photo to the internet in general though. That for-profit business is running the software, hosting the servers, and writing their own terms of service, they can block what they want at that point. The real fundamental change after the dot om bubble was that the open web effectively died and was replaced with a handful of walled gardens. If you have your own site…

This. You're putting yourself at the mercy of these companies, and they have no mercy.

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

#332

Post by EA-3167 » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:40 PM UTC

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #280

coldtea wrote: post #107

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.

Sure but the T&Cs are written such that even the .1% makes him subject to termination and that's kind of the point. If you write the rules (or laws) such that everyone is breaking them but then chose when and how to enforce those laws you can selectively enforce them against specific people or specific kinds of people. You're terminating him for a totally legitimate not-at-all-dystopian reason when obviously the real…

"For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law."

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

#333

Post by jonhohle » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:40 PM UTC

RetpolineDrama wrote: post #302

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but the T&Cs are written such that even the .1% makes him subject to termination and that's kind of the point. If you write the rules (or laws) such that everyone is breaking them but then chose when and how to enforce those laws you can selectively enforce them against specific people or specific kinds of people. You're terminating him for a totally legitimate not-at-all-dystopian reason when obviously the real…

>If you write the rules (or laws) such that everyone is breaking them but then chose when and how to enforce those laws you can selectively enforce them against specific people or specific kinds of people. This! I've been saying this for so long and I'm glad to see more people saying it.

It’s certainly not a new idea https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_the_man_and_I_will_g...

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

#334

Post by brandonmenc » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:41 PM UTC

rvba wrote: post #145

arthur_sav wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 exam…

> Banks are not police, or judicary system

This is a “feature”, not a bug.

Passing real laws is hard. Easier to get the huge near monopolies the citizenry de facto require to exist to enforce your shadow legal system.

Remember, the first amendment only applies to the government, and you technically won’t die without a bank account or internet access!

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

#335

Post by hippich » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

Our personal Amazon account was closed, per their claim, because we used our prime account for business purposes or something like that. We often bought gifts and shipped it directly to our friends. We also did it for our friends from Belarus, sending gifts to their friends in the USA. I bet it triggered some kind of anti-dropship rule.

I am very particular at trying to not tie myself into their ecosystem, but we had two kids fire tablets with some purchased games that we lost access to as well.

After a month or so of back and forth eventually they enabled ability to log in to access digital purchases only. But it was my impression they do not have an easy way to separate different branches of their offerings, and often it is all our nothing, since even after partial account reactivation, many parts of the Amazon website are broken.

In the end, I created new account, and since I was attending University of People at that time, I got student's discount for all their services in the new account, which is enough for me to counter the hasle I had to endure while trying to get kids tablets work again :)

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

#336

Post by noobface » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

schnable wrote: post #329

SheinhardtWigCo wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He believes Amazon is becoming less accountable as it grows in power and treats customers worse. He's right. I have recent first-hand experience of them deleting reviews of counterfeit products. The emails say: "We investigated your concerns about product authenticity, and the information we have indicates that the product you received was authentic." I've tried posting a review a further 4 times, each time only me…

Yep. I got a counterfeit product, reviewed it with photos showing it alongside the authentic version and the very obvious differences (like lack of branding). Rejected as "the information we have indicates that the product you received was authentic." This along with receiving so many low quality products that have glowing 4-5 star reviews has destroyed a lot of my trust in Amazon. I now order direct from manufacture…

This is going to be a huge problem in the medical/health vertical. It's one thing to get a BommyTahama pair of sunglasses, it's quite another to get counterfeit supplements that could cause injury.

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

#337

Post by Karunamon » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

throwawaymedia wrote: post #319

"racist trees", "racist doorbell", "racist photos"... my god, when will all this nonsense stop? When will the mass media stop feeding people with that crap? As a lesson, every single news company that writes about racism more than twice a year must be canceled from all the platforms out there. This shit is out of control and has damaged many people's brains. Or is that coming from politicians who love the "Divide & C…

When it stops working. Even up thread, here on HN, someone said they are "okay with racists being locked out of their homes".

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

#338

Post by B1FF_PSUVM » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

phpisthebest wrote: post #156

sfjailbird wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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 aut…

> 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.

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

#339

Post by acheron » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:48 PM UTC

tanjtanjtanj wrote: post #316

permo-w wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

similarly, a few days ago I was working on a project with a couple of people and I had our meeting notes in a Google Doc. I went to share the doc with the people and was told that it wouldn't be possible due to "inappropriate content". after a quick scan of the text I realised that it was because the notes contained the word "imagery" - in relation to a logo. once removed, the problem went away, but it's disgusting t…

One time a few years back I searched google for the title of a thread on /r/boardgames about a board game called Ethnos. I was instantly unable to use any google services on either of my google accounts that were both signed in. I signed out of my accounts to try again and I got 1 google search to go through before I started receiving the same cryptic message, using anonymous mode didn't help either. I switched over…

And yet you still use Google products? You sound like an abused spouse.

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

#340

Post by onetrickwolf » Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 2:50 PM UTC

DeathArrow wrote: post #67

Of course, it's not cool that Amazon can terminate anyone's account as they please. But I suppose it's their right. The real problem is Amazon having monopoly. If there were some true competition, I couldn't care less about Amazon closing my account as I could go to a competitor.

I don't know if Amazon should have the right to terminate anyone's account to be honest. I feel like people are afraid to regulate anything these days but I mean some people's entire lives are dependent on these corporate accounts. You can't just have me build up a livelihood on Amazon or have my whole house running on Amazon smart products and then just terminate the account.

If there was more competition or these things were based on open standards you could easily switch over I might be more inclined to agree, but I think right now these companies have way way too much power.

The threat of a company deleting an account for many people would be detrimental to their lives. We are way way too dependent on corporations and in kind of tired of people being scared to regulate.