Dh doesn't want an Amazon dot in our room

[cheesenpickles]

Lighthearted! I've just had a discussion (inverted commas type) about getting an Amazon echo for downstairs and a dot for our room. We have a Sonos in there that barely gets used because of the faff with using the app etc.

Suggested that I wanted to buy these with my Xmas money and he made a big thing about it listening in and how he doesn't want that intrusion, particular in the bedroom. He then got cross when I reminded him he sleeps with his iPad and iPhone next to him and then stormed off when I said "Hey Siri" and it chirped up.

Aibu?

I'm with your DH too, finding out someone has one makes me judge them a little bit, why on earth would you pay to have a data gathering device in your home?!?

With your DH, refuse to have one in my house. Most tech people won't and I figure they know why not to have it.

I'm with your DH. Companies have shown us time and time again that they can't be trusted with our data. Why the fuck would I stick a recording device in my house to give them even more access to my life??

I would say no too. It’s like a tiny robot in your bedroom listening to you make out with your husband.

The one I got as a Christmas present (the giver knowing full well I didn’t want one in the house nor would find it useful even if I didn’t have privacy concerns) has been boxed up ready to gifted back to the giver.

I wouldn't have one either.
It's just getting us used to more surveillance. It doesn't matter if you "have nothing to hide" That's not the point!

I have 3 and I have NEVER heard it ‘spouting adverts’

Data is huge currency and anyone who uses google or Facebook or have a mobile phone are being profiled just as much as the alexa user

I also refuse to have one in the house.

We have two here,never heard them spouting adverts.

I have one in the kitchen and love it. It only records the conversations you have with it, which you can see and delete in the Alexa app.

www.cnbc.com/2018/05/27/how-to-see-everything-alexa-has-recorded-on-me.html

DH was convinced it was just a setting we had wrong somewhere, but by the time we had that discussion I was ready to bury them under the patio.

FYI, OP, you can now use your Sonos direct from your phone, without going through the app. I was just about to bin mine when OH discovered this!

I wouldn't give one house-room either. Pointless gadget.
It can't do anything that I can't do for myself. Turns music on without me having to get up off the sofa? Meh.

We have a dot in our living room. Our conversations are never that interesting. So if anyone was listening in they would soon get bored .

I think they are creepy, but I still think it’s reallt funny that you said ‘hey siri’ 😂

Definitely with your DH here. Would never allow one of those devices in my house.

Everyone I know who works in tech absolutely refuses to have one. Also siding with the husband here.

We're with you, OP. It seems ironic to me that we're voluntarily putting these in our houses at the same time that GDPR is trying to control private company's access to /uses of our data!

Along with the earlier provided link re the murder case, which suggests Alexa is recording all the time, there's also:

gizmodo.com/the-amazon-alexa-eavesdropping-nightmare-came-true-1831231490

Amazon attach someone else's Alexa transcripts to an individual's FoI request. Journalists are able to track down the people in the transcripts from the content!

gizmodo.com/amazon-confirms-alexa-heard-a-couples-background-conver-1826321998

In another example, Alexa sends (unasked) transcript of conversation between husband/wife to one of the husband's employees.

Oops, sorry - meant "we're with your DH, OP"!

We’ve got two. Turn them on when we want to use them. Unplug when we’ve finished. Can’t listen to us then.

Unlike Some of the apps on my phone. I turn off the microphone permissions etc and yet they seem to turn them all back on when my phone software updates

No one needs that.

YABU.

I think there's pretty good evidence that these personal assistants listen in all the time, but only respond when you deliberately initiate an interaction with the 'Alexa' 'Hey Google' etc.

I've seen first hand on my brother in law's iPhonehave tons of unicorn related adverts cropping into web pages just hours after we'd had a conversation (in person, with the phone in his pocket) about unicorn gifts for my daughter. This is without him browsing any shopping sites, searching online or buying anything. He's usually a down the pub, william hill jack-the-lad type, so I'm pretty sure the adverts aren't from his browsing history....

They had numerous instances of devices sending data back to Amazon's servers due to 'glitches' - some of which Amazon had difficulties explaining.

By default, the devices are activated 'locally' by recognising the activation word... this doesn't go to Amazon, but once the activation word is recognised, the conversation goes to Amazon's servers to use their vast computing power to figure out what you're asking... and also to better optimise their speech recognition. This doesn't mean humans are listening in, but neither does it mean they never would/could.

It is absolutely staggering the amount of data being collected about you, , and this should be a matter of concern for everyone. Whilst it's mostly used with good intentions, it's Amazon / Apple / Google deciding what is good (not you) and what happens if their own servers are ever breached? Some Chinese government then has it, or some blackmailing hacking group has extracts of conversations you'd had, or searches - and in all likelihood, all you phone contacts too...

By all means embrace the technology, but also understand the risks, not just present ones, but future ones.

But Alexa integration with Sonos and Spotify is a thing of a beauty (even if a bit flaky from time to time).

So for that reason bah to all the luddites. At least when I give up some data my life for the the most part gets better not worse (heretical idea I know)