Racist Technology? Amazon Blocks Smart Home Devices Access Over Racist Remarks

Amazon suspended the Amazon Home account of a Black man in Baltimore after a delivery driver accused his doorbell intercom of being racist, the New York Post reports.

Brandon Jackson found himself kicked out of his Home system on May 25 after an Amazon driver dropped off a package and then reported him for being racist. Jackson told his story in a lengthy Medium post and said he didn’t know he was kicked off until he called Amazon. “This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa, and a lot of questions,” he wrote. “I was told that the driver who had delivered my package reported receiving racist remarks from my ‘Ring doorbell.’”

Jackson started to unravel the alleged events piece by piece. In the post, he first identified that most drivers that serve his neighborhood look like him, claiming it’s “highly unlikely that we would make such remarks.” He then pointed out that he has several cameras on his property that would prove the delivery driver wrong. And lastly, no one was home when the alleged racist remark was made. “Finally, when I asked what time the alleged incident occurred, I realized it was practically impossible for anyone in my house to have made those comments, as nobody was home around that time (approximately 6:05 PM),” Jackson wrote.

After reviewing the footage, he determined that the Amazon doorbell didn’t make any remark beside the standard automated response: “Excuse me, can I help you?” Jackson, an engineer for Microsoft, also saw the driver was wearing headphones at the time of the delivery and could have easily misinterpreted what was said.

After contacting Amazon, Jackson said his service was restored almost a week later, on May 31. However, the incident has him questioning his loyalty to Amazon as he never received an email informing him of the resolution. “This incident has led me to question my relationship with Amazon,” Jackson said. “After nearly a decade of loyalty, I’ve been given a harsh reminder that a misunderstanding can lead to such drastic measures.”