Amazon listening in via Alexa ...

[KooMoo]

.... is just not on!

I’ve had my suspicions for a while. Our family unit do not have an Alexa or Echo or similar devices because we have not trusted that our Human Rights to Privacy for family life will be respected.

The news piece I read states ‘Amazon have admitted that Alexa does indeed listen to your private conversations, with clips being analysed by Amazon workers’.

I can’t do linky things so unable to share. It’s been shared by Unilad curtesy of Bloomberg.

Their excuse is to improve voice recognition.

Google the above quote and I’m sure you can find it that way.

I feel it’s a total violation and sets an unsettling precedent. Not on Amazon!!

They all do it
Try and disable the Google voice search on your phone. You can't. This is why

I don't know why this is news or a surprise in any way. That's how the thing works - it's listening so it knows when you say "Alexa". The fact that it's relating stuff back to the company is not in any way shocking. Whether it's morally correct or not is a different matter, but of course the damn thing is going to listen to you. It's creepy.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. Sorry I apologise.

It isn’t the software listening to use AI in honing voice recognition. It’s real people. Real people whose job it is to listen to the conversations. I do not think that is ok. Covert listening - I thought was illegal in the uk.

Maybe I’m wrong. Nonetheless I still don’t think an employee of Amazon has any right to listen in without the persons agreement.

I'd never have an Alexa or similar for this reason. The microphones on all my devices are switched off, as is the location thing, and I've never used Siri.

It's obvious this is what it does. The whole point of those devices is that you can waken them by saying certain words - so of course, they have to be actively "listening" to you in order to hear when you say those words.

It's so Big Brother - 1984 had listening devices in all the homes - and we voluntarily spend money to have them in ours!

Well anyone listening in to our Alexa devices has prob long since died of boredom. Although they are probably an expert on the finer details of Bubblegum Simulator on Roblox thanks to ds.

I must be so old and out of touch. People seem to be becoming desensitised to their rights being eroded. People just don’t seem to be bothered about people they don’t know listening in as and when to their private conversations 🤷‍♀️

Just what is the point in Data Protection legislation and Human Rights Act. I don’t get it.

Seems I’m on my own for this one 🤷‍♀️

But of course it's going to be real people. How could they make improvements to the AI/voice recognition if humans weren't using recorded examples to improve it? Again, I'm not saying I necessarily agree it's fine to do, it's a very interesting ethical debate, but it's not really news.

God help whoever listens in at casa Fekko. We had a very long debate about existentialism the other night (we have a teenager in the house).

@KooMoo it's not just you, I honestly don't get why people willingly pay for boxes to listen in to their conversations.
OK, it' be dead boring here as well, but that's not the point - it's so intrusive and privacy invading.

Zelda I understand they need samples of voices and accents etc. However you’d have thought that they would have enlisted volunteers from each region to undertake the research prior to the product being released. Not listen in to real live conversations (not instructions) to further their research.

For what it’s worth I still don’t agree. Not without permission/notification . Even if it’s just a warning on the box that nothing you ever say in the presence of Alexa remains private and confidential as some one could be listening in.

Lordprof’

Perhaps they have graduates in post.

You can turn off permission for them to use your data in this way. I feel very sorry for any amazon employee who would have to listen to our recordings. "Alexa, play baby shark", "Alexa, do you fart?" "Alexa, can you poo?"

They can be turned off....

You can turn off permission for them to use your data in this way.

Do you really, genuinely think Amazon give one shiny shite about what "permission" you give them?

@KooMoo
Maybe I’m wrong. Nonetheless I still don’t think an employee of Amazon has any right to listen in without the persons agreement.

Its probably in the t&cs that everyone blindly signs.

I already presumed this happened

Most people who have these devices know that they are being listened to and have chosen to still have the devices.
Personally it doesn't bother me. I understand it bothers some people, but then don't have a device of this type if that's the case?

Do you really, genuinely think Amazon give one shiny shite about what "permission" you give them?

I'd hope so. Although I suppose you can never be sure. I actually have the permission set to on because I'm not particularly fussed about what it can hear. I'd turn the device off if I wanted to discuss my plans to rob a bank or bury someone under the patio.

I can see though how it would make some people uncomfortable and yes, it is a bit creepy if you genuinely didn't know that it's always listening for the wake word. Pretty sure my phone listens to me as well, I was talking to my friend the other day at her house about needing a new oven (I'd yet to do any online browsing for one though) and later that day I was getting adverts for ovens at currys!

We probably do consent to it somewhere amongst the terms and conditions that no one ever bothers to read.

Fallensky I’ve had that too! Was talking to family about ‘rugs’ the other day. Low and behold adverts coming up in side bar advertising rugs. I’ve since got an ad block app. So no longer getting adverts but I still feel AI is listening via phones and iPads etc. I have my microphone off too.

I would expect that Amazon don't care one little bit about any kind of "permission" you have or haven't given them, to be frank. They're a massive corporation who don't really care what people think of them. They have enough money and influence that they can get away with anything they want.

Personally it doesn't bother me. I understand it bothers some people, but then don't have a device of this type if that's the case?

What about if the government had access to it? At what point would it become creepy to have the your private conversations accessed and potentially used against you?

Alexa recordings have already been used to help solve a murder case in America. Nothing it records is private.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46181800

@KooMoo

You are not alone; I will never have one of these listening devices again. Years ago I bought an Xbox camera, it was really creepy, it would follow you round the room, had it plugged in for a few days, then got rid. It was later was revealed that they were listening in, even when not in use for gaming.

I don't understand the "we are not doing anything wrong, don't mind" brigade, this is a HUGE invasion of privacy.

I can’t understand why people don’t mind, let alone pay for the privilege.

Seems I’m on my own for this one

No, there are plenty of people, (DH and I included) who won't have these devices in our home. People are blithely sleepwalking into an undesirable future. These people may think their conversations are dead boring, but they're voluntarily giving away a lot of information about themselves. Information=data, and that = money to corporations.

It doesn't bother me at all. Nothing exciting / embarrassing that they would be listening too any way. The may give me more personalised ads but that's fine by me, I would rather personalised ads then back in the back when it was those gross dating ads.

All these people saying they don’t say anything exciting or others would just find it boring listening. Don’t you ever have private conversations? Stuff that you wouldn’t say if you thought someone else was listening?

Voice recordings from various devices have helped with crimes and a Fitbit even pinned a murder to the scene of the crime. You might not like being listened to but it helps really. Unless your planning to commit a crime it’s not going to bite you on the arse really.