To think Alexa is listening to our conversations?

[Titsywoo]

DH won an Amazon Alexa last year and it sit in the corner of our kitchen. DH kept turning if off as he was paranoid that it listened to our conversations (he works in an internet business and is very careful about his online presence etc). I said it was ridiculous so kept turning back on when listening to music then not bothering to turn it off again. However we are starting to notice we get adverts on facebook about things we have been discussing when at home (and not things we have googled either). For example DH and our builder were talking yesterday about getting some portable heaters as we are losing the central heating for a few weeks while we have a loft conversion done. 10 mins later he is getting adverts for heaters. Coincidence? Or is Alexa a spy sent to collect our data?

Sorry just saw your post wildrumpy , also in the UK.

Really? Our phones listen to what we say? Really?😯

Google Home listens too. The other day I said something then said OK Google repeat what I said and it repeated it back to me. Go and try it if you have one.

I get that activity is tracked, people do need to be aware of what permissions they give devices apps etc..

But there is no way a mans face appeared on Facebook and disappeared. That just did not happen.

Really? Our phones listen to what we say? Really?

Well, if you have things like Siri activated, you need your microphone on to access it. And lots of people don't realise they give their apps free access to their location, microphone, camera and contacts unless they specifically go into their settings to turn it off.

Of course the phone companies will deny it, or say any data collected isn't used for advertising purposes/sold on, but we all know data breaches happen and that most internet companies aren't exactly looking out for your security and welfare!

Yes, technology is good and of course smart phones and wifi apps or items are great inventions, but you do need to be careful with what you willingly share by leaving your internet/location/mic on 24/7.

I'm another one who is frankly shocked at the amount of people who have no idea what their tech is actually doing.

I have been banging on about this for years, get laughed at because I tape over my laptop camera, and switch all the microphones off on all devices, including phones and tablets.
They stopped laughing when all this shit started cropping up, especially when it turned out even Zuckerberg tapes his camera.

I also run VPNs, ad blockers, disable all trackers/cookies etc and my social media accounts are as anonymous as I can make them.

Yeah I am that paranoid!

I would never, ever have a fucking listening device in my home.

You are voluntarily opening yourself up to constant tracking, revealing anything and everything to everyone.

I think it's a little more insidious than simply using humans as a currency to sell to other giant companies, although I think that's bad enough!
Having seen what hackers can do, with a cheap laptop, to anything from smart systems, to your pet cam, to Alexa and even to driverless cars (that was scarily eye opening btw!) I am not keen to be open to that sort of abuse.

I also thinnk that Govern,ents the world over are rubbing their hands with glee as the next generation become so desenitized to being online, tracked, followed and putting hackable devices in every corner of their homes that should a Government ever want to abuse this (and they almost certainly do already!) it will be like shooting fish in a barrell.

It really, really doesn't take much general dissent before a desperate Government starts to suspect everyone, and starts using tech to control/spy on everyone.
All we are doing is handing it to them on a plate.

I've noticed this lately but we don't have Alexa, just iPhones. I was telling DH that a new expansion pack had come out for the sims 4 and I really wanted to buy it. Next minute sims 4 adverts popped up on every website I went to.

We were discussing getting a new kitchen, next minute tons of adverts appeared for b&q, wikes etc. When discussing our upcoming holiday we were inundated with adverts for booking.com, British airways and emirates.

It's beyond creepy feeling like you have to careful what you say in your own home.

It's beyond creepy feeling like you have to careful what you say in your own home.

Just turn off your microphone. You don't have to be careful what you say, just be careful what access you give your technology. Make sure none of your apps (Facebook, etc.) have microphone access enabled and you should be good to go.

So many people aren't aware that these things are enabled as standard, and that every time you update your operating system or an app updates, you need to look at your settings again.

How much does Alexa do that my Android smartphone doesn't ALREADY do? Are we shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted here? (Genuine question, not a point!)

Google Home listens too. The other day I said something then said OK Google repeat what I said and it repeated it back to me. Go and try it if you have one.

I just did, guess what? It didn't repeat anything.

Just to add, I was dubious about the man's face popping up on Facebook, it came up on another thread that's all.

I think phones listen too as it happens to me on my phone and I don't have Alexa.

How do you stop your phone listening to you?

How do you stop your phone listening to you?

Turn your microphone off, and make sure none of your apps allow background microphone access. I would also stop using things like Siri as I'm sure all that information is recorded and fed back to the phone companies and Facebook/your apps as well.

Well it definitely did to me. I told my daughter to go to bed and asked Google to repeat it

If you think Amazon invented Alexa (and Google/Home etc) as a nice fun thing for consumers to have, you're crazy.

Amazon are in the business of collecting your data. That is the only thing they want, so they can sell you the stuff they KNOW you are interested in.

If you aren't buying the product, and you aren't selling the product, you ARE the product. In this case, you, your data and your associated value.

(This is a trade off many people are happy with, don't get me wrong. But none of these companies are in it for altruistic reasons)

Go to your device, any device, phone or what have you and check the permissions you have given your apps.

You need to say say "Okay Google repeat after me [thing to say]"

To get it to repeat what you said.

Can you turn the microphone off on Alexa?

If you think Amazon invented Alexa (and Google/Home etc) as a nice fun thing for consumers to have, you're crazy.

Exactly. These "amazing" new bits of technology are not for your benefit or to make your life easier - they're to help Amazon/Google sell you things and to collect as much information about your life as possible.

Amazon doesn't care about making your life easier, or about the fact that you can have a virtual shopping list that you can update with your voice. They care about knowing as much about your shopping habits as possible so they can direct adverts and offers to you.

It's weird, isn't it, how all this has happened in just the last 5/10 years, by stealth?

If we'd been asked 10 years ago "Are you happy to have all your conversations and movements recorded and stored by multinational corporations working alongside the biggest government agencies in the world?" do you think we'd all have said yes? And yet, this is what we're all accepting...

Alexa isn't sending back what you are saying outside of the trigger word. You can look at what it is doing with wireshark and check it out for yourself.

But there are things you can do to limit this stuff! You can install the Privacy badger for your browser and U-Block Origin to cut down on this creepy tracking. Also tape up your camera - EFF sell cool stickers.

A good project with kids is building a Pi Hole to block ads and spying on your whole network. Also a good thing to do with kids is Community Maltego, which usually is a chastening experience (maltego yourself first, sans-kids!).

You can stop google logging your searches and so on by doing the Take Control workflow. Google, while a terrifying Skynet that will surely rule us all, is actually really good on this stuff.

Well Facebook, PayPal and WhatsApp are collecting data for the US government I am certain. Our phones "stalk" us if the location setting is on, so anything voice-activated is bound to be collecting data. Much as I love technology, I think this is all going a bit too far.

I can tell believe people have these in their homes!
I also cannot believe people don't cover the camera on their laptops and phones. You can buy special gadgets for them - it isn't paranoia.