Downdoot for ragebait title.

Of course, the ideal would be that nobody buys cloud-connected stuff anymore but that’s just not realistic. Most people have no idea of the risk involved until it bites them and even if they have, they will usually buy the cheapest thing anyway.

I believe that this is a case for regulation. Companies like Amazon, Google, etc. can just disable people’s accounts quoting their internal policies and customers have little to no recourse when something like this happens.

An Apple, Google or Microsoft account isn’t just a private contract between two consenting parties anymore. In order to function in this world, you NEED to have these accounts and they should be recognized as such.

Just like the power or water company can’t just shut you off without good reasons and appeals procedures, we should have the same options here. There should be oversight, an appeals process and independent decision making. Not just a single company and it’s faceless support AIs and internal policy documents.

This may be a dumb question, but how did you get the image to appear while still being a link post?

This is why I don't use Amazon smart home products anymore...

I would never want a product run by a huge company with those capabilities in my home. I already have enough technology with my phone, and streaming... and even that is tiresome. Dead bolts for me please.