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The Man Amazon Erased (www.tabletmag.com)

Jackson soon discovered that Amazon suspended his account because a Black delivery driver who’d come to his house the previous day had reported hearing racist remarks from his video doorbell. In a brief email sent to Jackson at 3 a.m., the company explained how it unilaterally placed all of his linked devices and services on hold as it commenced an internal investigation.

The accusations baffled Jackson. He and his family are Black. When he reviewed the doorbell’s footage, he saw that nobody was home at the time of the delivery. At a loss for what could have prompted the accusation of racism, he suspected the driver had misinterpreted the doorbell’s automated response: “Excuse me, can I help you?”

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[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

I already did this by never getting smart devices.

[-] Wodge@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago

It's increasingly difficult to get a TV nowadays that isn't "smart".

[-] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

Don't connect it to the Internet

[-] brygphilomena@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

That's easier said than done. I've had TVs that wouldn't work unless TOS were accepted and I've had TVs scan for open networks.

I'm at the point of opening TVs to disconnect the wireless antennas.

[-] 520@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Remember that if a TV is connecting to random WiFi spots, it is breaking hacking laws if it logs into someone else's unsecured WiFi where you don't have permission to join. Permission, not security measures like passwords, is the key part that defines the legality or otherwise of what you are doing

[-] ironeagl@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago

I ended up just getting a big monitor.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I have two TVs. One is an small 720p set we keep in the bedroom with a connected Chromecast, and the other is a 1080p "smart" TV, but they made the mistake of building a Chromecast into it, so we literally never use the "smart" features and just cast from a phone or computer.

I don't care if that's "low resolution." I grew up with CRT TVs. 1080p is terrific as far as I'm concerned.

[-] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I can't even find a goddamned thermostat that doesn't require some kind of internet connection.

[-] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 14 points 1 year ago

Smart Devices are fine. Buy devices that use Z-Wave or ZigBee and run them with something like Home Assistant. All local processing, no internet needed.

[-] rdyoung@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have a couple of smart bulbs and switches and a couple of wyze cams around but I don't want or need a smart doorbell, thermostat, etc. I like being able to turn off our bedroom light from my watch or phone and the smart switches work well for devices that need to be plugged in where the actual power cable is hard to reach.

this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
597 points (97.2% liked)

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