Omg we just got Alexa

[reddressinggown]

Tell me what fun things she does

This is freaky!

It’s an open microphone to your house.

"Alexa, ask for a fart". She has s large repertoire of farts.

Really bizarre that people buy this stuff

Why? Technology moves on, we should embrace it not be scared of it. Alexa wakes me up in the morning as an alarm clock, plays any music I wish, gives me recipes, keeps my shopping list, Acts as a calculator, allows me to intercom up to my husband if he's working from home, instead of shouting up three stories, sets reminders for me to do things, be it put the bins out of remember a friends birthday, answers general knowledge questions, tells me the news, tells me the weather forecast. It's endless.

Can I do all those things without it, yes, sure, but it's a shit ton easier to walk into a room and say Alexa play Ed Sheeran and wake me up at 8 am tomorrow.

I bet people said the same sorts of things when clocks, telephones etc were invented ‘why not tell the time by looking at the sun the way we always have? Why not go and visit someone, why use a device to speak to them?’ And look at us now

Well I remember it was similar with mobile phones, with computers, people have always shown a fear and resistance of new technology,

If the worried people think about it. Really think about it. Then the odds that amazon is going to start breaking many laws, undertaking human rights abuses, by recording people in their own homes without their knowledge is both laughable and crazy. And not just for the ginormous logistics required to do it and manage the associated data or the fact when caught they would be out of business and their directors jailed.

Or even that governments, like the British or American are going to form a partnership with a company like amazon to do it is also off the wall. If they wish to monitor us, let's be honest, they have the technology to do it now. And they too are very careful due to the human rights and legal requirements when they do monitor people ie for suspected terrorist activities. They aren't going to hook up with amazon and do it wholesale.

As said, we should embrace technology, not be scared of it. Artificial intelligence is the way of the future.

I’m a scientist who works with fairly complex systems and tech daily. I’m no Luddite

I’m not afraid of tech and I’m well aware of how a lot of it works.

Which is probably one reason why I feel we don’t really understand the societal issues and are not discussing the implications it has for our privacy and personal data.

Nobody is saying amazon are a cover for recording the population.

The point is that the tech is there, in your home, that can be used as, as a pp says, an open mic and a recording device, with keyword recognition.

Even if that is only used for marketing data collection purposes, it's an invasion of privacy. It has the potential to be far more invasive.

I’m a scientist who works with fairly complex systems and tech daily. I’m no Luddite

It's interesting that this always happens. People who state something woo and out there always come back with well I'm an expert. In reality I'm sorry, I don't believe your day job qualifies you as some form of expert if that's what you're indicating, because your view fundamentally indicates a huge lack of knowledge in terms of not just what it would take to do what's being suggested, the cost and infrastructure surrounding it would be billions annually, but also because of the not insignificant legal rights issues as well as the extreme unlikelyness associated with such a crazy idea that amazon will start listening in and recording people in their own homes.

So yes, as discomfiting as it is, you do indeed appear to be scared of technology.

Alexa works for the FBI.

Bluntness, nobody is saying that Amazon is going to spy on you (although they will definitely collect data for advertising, but most people don't seem too bothered about that kind of thing anyway).

The point is that the government can easily spy on you through Amazon hardware and software without their knowledge, just like they can read your emails and facebook messages and track your Google location history, all without Hotmail, Facebook or Google having any explicit involvement.

I hate our Alexa. DH & DD love it. I always mute her

Can Alexia ring the police for you?

Also why do people say She? Is it a real person? Do you actually buy a tiny person in a box? Like that Black Mirror episode?

bluntness

I’m not a computer scientist. I’m also not afraid of tech per se. I am aware that our current laws haven’t kept up with ehatvits capable of.
Did you read and understand the snowdon leaks? The scale of what the NSA was requesting and in some cases doing?
Do you understand the Cambridge analytica scandal?

Both those incidences were of large scale data/metadata gathering being used in ways which people had not consented to. In the latter case, there is evidence that the data gathered and its subsequent usage helped to alter the voting patterns of an entire country.

Where there’s tech to gather this data (and you seem to think it’s a tape recording of everything anyone does - it’s not - it’s far more useful than that) then there are implications for personal privacy and implications beyond that.

It is not unreasonable or tinfoil hatty to ask who collects the data, who uses it and for what purpose. In fact it’s such a reasonable thing that the EU developed the GDPR rules in response to exactly that question.

So no, I won’t be buying an Alexa.

Why don't more people use adblockers? I probably sound like a complete twat here but I don't tend to sit and blindly watch advertisements - I leave my laptop for 4mins if i'm watching C4 which won't let you click on other tabs and do some tidying (helps to motivate), usually watch BBCiplayer and listen to BBC radio. I actually am so bored by adverts I willingly switch over if one comes on. Using social media I occasionally get groupon advertisements or amazon advertisements within my newsfeed, but I don't get the sidebar stuff because I have adblocker (Yahoo keeps trying to get me to change it but I won't). Cambridge Analytica was largely based on a psychological test that people willingly participated on; one of those "see how clever you are" links people post on the wall or similar. If you don't do those ridiculous fishing links ("how well do you know XYZ", etc) and focus on real people posts, there is less of an issue. That is the kind of information people need to combat this, not complete avoidance.

www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/26/the-cambridge-analytica-files-the-story-so-far

Cambridge Analytica story for those unfamiliar

Alexa knows and sees all..........(well, I hope that's not literally true!)

cucumber

why do people say ‘she’

Alexa has a female sounding voice

And a female name.

I was in the park the other day with DD and a man was there with his daughter...nothing unusual there. Then he said, "Come on Alexa, let's go."

How annoyed would you be if you'd named your daughter Alexa just before the bloody things came out?! I'd be so cross!

Have none of you ever watched Demon Seed? Turning the lights on is just the start.....

Watch out when the top light glow but she doesn't speak it means whoever else in the family has one and is on your call list is listening in!Ask her if she works for the FBI too!

"Alexa, are we not men?"

Bit of a niche nerdy one that one, sorry

Funny how all these virtual "secretary" things are all female isn't it? Assume that will be the next selling gimmick (with choose-your-own-celebrity to come!)

the fact when caught they would be out of business and their directors jailed.
That's what's going to happen to Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg right?
You sound very naive Bluntness. Goverments don't need to ask to harvest your data, they just do. As do criminals who can theoretically hack into any device that is connected to the internet.

Ok, well I'm naive, you guys are scared of technology developments, you won't have an Alexa and will steer clear of technology developments like this, I will embrace it.

We all have to make an informed decision and do what's right for us.🤷‍♀️