Poorly defined design vs defect: A product-recall case study dissect(ion)

Back in mid-July 2021 I purchased a safe to securely store a handgun in a nightstand drawer next to the bed. Based both on abundant and predominantly positive reviews, along with an attractive price, I went with one from a company called awesafe (alternatively, in some places, Awesafe). The product page on Amazon’s website no longer exists (more on why shortly), but thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine you can still see what it looked like, and via it I was able to find the ‘stock’ images of it still stored on Amazon’s website:

When the gun safe arrived, I quickly glanced at the instructions stamped on the outer packaging, programmed a custom four-digit code and my fingerprint, confirmed that both worked correctly, and thought nothing more of it…until late February of this year, when the following ominous email arrived in my inbox, sent by the Amazon Product Safety Team:

Dear Amazon Customer,

We write to notify you of a potential safety concern with a product that you purchased on Amazon.com.

Please review the Recalls and Product Safety Alerts page for further details : https://www.amazon.com/your-product-safety-alerts

Product: awesafe Gun Safe, Biometric Gun Safe for Pistols, Quick Access Pistol Safe Fingerprint Handgun Safe with Keys and Keypad (Biometric Fingerprint Lock-L)
[ORDER ID DELETED FOR PRIVACY]

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has informed us that the product listed may not meet current mandatory or voluntary safety standards.

If you still have this product, we urge you to stop using it immediately.

More details, including what you should do and where you can seek assistance, can be found in the following notification: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2024/Biometric-Gun-Safes-Recalled-Due-to-Serious-Injury-Hazard-and-Risk-of-Death-Imported-by-Awesafe.

If you made this purchase for someone else, please notify the recipient immediately and provide them with the information.

The safety and satisfaction of our customers is our highest priority. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.

Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

The referenced Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website page had more information, an excerpt of which follows:

Biometric Gun Safes Recalled Due to Serious Injury Hazard and Risk of Death; Imported by Awesafe

Name of Product:
Awesafe Biometric Gun Safes

Hazard:
The biometric lock on the safes can fail and be opened by unauthorized users, posing a serious injury hazard and risk of death.

Remedy:
Replace

Recall Date:
February 22, 2024

Units:
About 60,000

Consumer Contact:
Awesafe by email at Recall@awesafeus.com or online at http://awesafeus.com/RECALL or http://awesafeus.com/ and click on “RECALL INFORMATION” at the top of the page for more information.

Recall Details

Description:
This recall involves certain Awesafe biometric gun safes. The recalled gun safes are black, can fit two pistols, and have the brand name “Awesafe” on the front.

Remedy:
Consumers should immediately stop using the biometric feature, remove the batteries, and only use the key for the recalled safes to store firearms until they get the free replacement safe. Contact Awesafe to receive instructions on disabling the biometric feature and to receive a free replacement safe. Consumers will be asked to disable the biometric reader and email a photo of the disabled biometric reader to Recall@awesafeus.com in order to receive a replacement safe. The instructions on how to safely disable the biometric reader are also located at http://awesafeus.com/RECALL. Once they receive their replacement safe, consumers should discard the recalled safe in accordance with local laws.

Incidents/Injuries:
The firm has received reports of 71 incidents of the recalled gun safes being opened by unauthorized users when the biometric lock failed to secure the safe. No injuries have been reported.

Sold At:
Walmart stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Walmart.com from August 2019 until December 7, 2022, for about $130.

Importer(s):
Shenghaina Technology Co. Ltd., d/b/a Awesafe, of China

Manufactured In:
China

Recall number:
24-127

Finally, here’s an excerpt from awesafe’s website’s recall page:

IMPORTANT RECALL NOTICE – AWESAFE BIOMETRIC GUN SAFES

Dear Customer:
Awesafe is conducting a recall of all Awesafe biometric gun safes that were sold before December 7, 2022, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The safes contain a biometric reader that allows unpaired fingerprints to open the safe until a fingerprint is programmed, allowing unauthorized persons, including children, to access hazardous contents, including firearms.

You should immediately stop using the biometric reader included with the recalled gun safes, remove the batteries, and follow the instructions below to receive a free replacement safe.

While you wait for your replacement, only use the key for the recalled safe to store your firearms.

All units sold prior to December 7, 2022 are affected.

Units sold after December 7, 2022 are not affected. Safes without biometric readers are not affected

And how would one go about getting a replacement gun safe? Glad you asked:

Determine whether you are covered in this recall. You need to first locate your awesafe biometric gun safe to participate in this recall. Then, fill out the form https://forms.gle/vxQoEMPXqovKxnA18 or email us at Recall@awesafeus.com, and we will help you determine whether you are covered in the recall. After confirming that your product is affected by this recall, please follow the following steps.

1. To receive a replacement biometric safe, please disable the biometric reader by puncturing the reader using a screwdriver and emailing a photo of the disabled reader to Awesafe at recall@awesafeus.com.
2. To disable the biometric reader, follow these instructions:
   • Wear safety glasses.
   • Puncture the reader by hitting the reader with a screwdriver – strike the screwdriver with a hammer.
   • The following is a link showing how to disable your unit: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/is-ZLujBujk?feature=share
3. Once Awesafe receives the photo of the disabled safe, we will send you an equivalent Awesafe biometric gun safe.
4. After you receive your replacement safe, please dispose of your disabled recalled safe.

Here’s the aforementioned video. Enjoy!(?)

I filled out the Google Forms-formatted online form as soon as I got the email from Amazon, and less than two weeks later I got an email from awesafe requesting a screenshot of the original Amazon order information to confirm my validity for a replacement, which I also promptly supplied via an email reply. Three weeks (and two days) after that, I received another email from awesafe reiterating that I after I destroyed the fingerprint reader (potentially rendering the safe more generally nonfunctional) and sent them pictorial proof of the damage done, they’d send me a replacement safe posthaste. But in-between that email and my earlier one to them, I’d done a bit of research. First off, here’s an excerpt from the FAQ page (which more generally augments the recall page with additional background and other information):

The problem is that all biometric safes sold prior to December 7, 2022 were programmed to ‘default to open.’ This means that the biometric safe will open to any contact with the reader before consumers follow instructions to register fingerprints. Consumers may think that their fingerprint has been registered while the biometric safe is, in fact, still in factory default mode. This will cause the biometric safe to open to any fingerprint. Since Awesafe’s biometric safes are designed to store fire arms, this can create a serious injury hazard and risk of death. We have reprogrammed the safe to ‘default to close’ since December 7, 2022.

So just a simple (albeit impactful) firmware programming error, one that wasn’t capable of being rectified by a cable- or wireless-tether delivered update executed by the end user? Not exactly. Take a look at these snapshots I took of the outer packaging:

and the sliver of documentation found inside the safe (along with a spare key, etc.):

They upfront and clearly document that the “all fingerprints open safe by default” characteristic was intentional. Wise? No. But by design? Yes. If you revisit my earlier provided Internet Archive Wayback Machine mid-2022 snapshot of the original version’s product page on Amazon, you’ll see that multiple comments posters also found the default behavior “odd” (I’m being charitable) but like me, were easily able to get around it by programming at least one user fingerprint.

I’m hardwired to avoid throwing perfectly good hardware into the landfill whenever possible, as long-time readers already know, so I write awesafe back and inquired into the situation, admitting that I was reluctant to do permanent (and seemingly unnecessary) damage to my existing gun safe. Surprisingly, here’s what I got back:

I will arrange a new replacement for you first.

And less than a week after that, a gratis, brand-new gun safe showed up at my door. It looks just like its predecessor and presumably is identical, save for updated firmware running inside it. I’m guessing it’s this product on awesafe’s website (also here on Amazon’s site). So now I have two…

But here’s the thing. The outer packaging is now instruction-less, and the folded black-and-white instruction manual inside has been replaced with a larger single-sheet color version:

awesafe takes great pains to point out that:

In order to make your safe safer, under the factory setting status, you cannot open the safe with any fingerprint. Only after you have input your fingerprint can you unlock it with the fingerprint that has been input.

But whereas, with the original version, “the numeric password does not have a default password set”, this time the instructions note:

In the factory setting state, you can unlock the safe with the initial password “1234”.

So, better than before? But still seemingly not ideal? Reader thoughts are welcomed!

In closing, I’m still a bit stuck on the “recall” wording chosen by both the CPSC and manufacturer. Maybe my interpretation of that particular word is just flawed, but when I see “recall” I construe that what’s being described is a “design flaw” (aka, a “defect”)…a vehicle braking system that doesn’t work as intended, for example…versus a “flawed design”…something that was designed to the manufacturer’s intention and documented as such to consumers, but developed based on a seemingly flawed product definition and specification. In either case, however, I agree that it’s a “product safety concern”. Am I just being overly pedantic, readers, or do you also see and agree with my point?

Sound off with your thoughts in the comments. Thanks as always in advance!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

Related Content

• Taser Stun Gun … a great gift for the wife?
• Exclusive: Apple secretly working on “backdoor” phone access
• DIY biometrics
• iPhone 5s TouchID sensor hacked!

The post Poorly defined design vs defect: A product-recall case study dissect(ion) appeared first on EDN.