One of the reasons I'll never have one of these "smart home" devices.

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One of the reasons I'll never have one of these "smart home" devices.

Originally shared by Alexander S. Kunz

So... Alexa records everything it hears, and one would expect that everything gets discarded if it doesn't contain the trigger word "Alexa" but NOPE, it's all stored on Amazon's servers too! What could possibly go wrong? Oh, Amazon could accidentally send everything to someone else, of course. Alexa, Ring etc. - it's all getting creepier every day...

https://medium.com/swlh/alexa-play-some-music-isnt-the-only-time-amazon-is-listening-to-you-a556df19613f
https://medium.com/swlh/alexa-play-some-music-isnt-the-only-time-amazon-is-listening-to-you-a556df19613f

Comments

James Karaganis said…
I have several Google Homes. The only time any significant data is transmitted and received is during an interaction. Yes, I monitored them for that reason. The device itself is looking for the hotword, not Google's servers.
January 14, 2019 at 8:46 PM
Bodhipaksa said…
I wouldn't have one of these in the house either. There have been horror stories regarding snafus and breaches of privacy (see linked article). But the article you linked to here contradicts what's said above by the OP: it doesn't seem that everything is recorded. And I don't trust the author's analysis. npr.org - Amazon Echo Recorded And Sent Couple's Conversation — All Without Their Knowledge
January 15, 2019 at 5:54 AM
James Karaganis said…
Yet hundreds of millions of people had no problem with Google (and other entities, including ISPs) scanning and indefinitely storing their emails, their browser histories, and what they do and where they go on the Web.

I'm not that worried about Google and Amazon here. They fuck up too badly here and the lawsuits will be Biblical. On the other hand, the so-called "smart TV" is a bigger issue. Samsung's manual for some models notes that the mike (and in some cases, camera) is always on and that if you are concerned about privacy, don't connect it to the Internet.

Of course, it wouldn't be a smart TV anymore.

I'm fine with that.
January 15, 2019 at 7:05 AM
Alexander S. Kunz said…
Bodhipaksa you're right - not everything gets recorded, just everything that follows the "trigger" and apparently, this trigger is too sensitive to nonsense and normal conversations.

If no actual interaction with the device follows, I would expect that these recordings get deleted, automatically...
January 16, 2019 at 10:41 AM
Bodhipaksa said…
Alexander S. Kunz Alexa's flakiness in misinterpreting background noise is certainly worrying. The story about the household conversation that was recorded and sent to a business contact was especially crazy.

It is apparently possible to get Alexa to show you what's been recorded, although I'd imagine very few people would take the time to do that.

Choosing a top 40 female name for the device was not smart, especially since it'll also respond to similar sounds, like "Alex." Amazon allows a few alternatives to be set up, but these include "Amazon" and "computer" which are common household words.

And I thought i had problems with Siri...
January 16, 2019 at 11:19 AM
Alexander S. Kunz said…
Bodhipaksa if it responds to "Alex" I'm even more glad that I don't have one now! :-D
January 18, 2019 at 11:29 AM
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