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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be scared google is watching

18 replies

Crockof · 11/07/2019 20:31

I was at a friend's today who has google home.

We were discussing work and I said 'for fucks sake if this is my life it's not worth living' (in context it made sense)
Google sprang to life and said, 'the Samaritans can help in times of need, their number is...'

She wasn't perturbed. I find it creepy aibu to never want a listening device?

OP posts:
thesnapandfartisinfallible · 11/07/2019 20:40

I don't worry too much about what Alexa hears or doesn't. If you have nothing to hide, why would it bother you?

familycourtq · 11/07/2019 20:44

If you have nothing to hide, why would it bother you?
Are you for real?
Why would a multi-national US-based company bound by different laws and apparently able to get away with paying tiny amounts in tax here knowing absolutely everything about everything I say bother me?
Because (just for starters) things I say and do are fuck all to do with them. If you can't see the potential for this then go ahead, let them see into your every thought. Christ on a bike.

PianoPiano · 11/07/2019 20:48

Of course YANBU. And, no, having someone listening in to everything that is said in your home is not the same as CCTV, credit card companies knowing what you buy, your phone knowing where you have been etc.

Havingarethink · 11/07/2019 22:05

Omg this is the stuff of nightmares, I don't blame you for being worried about this.

Fwiw, I have nothing but love for my fellow man, but I wouldn't want anyone to be able to read my thoughts. I know I'm being slightly over dramatic Grin, but where does it end?

NinjaInFluffyPJs · 11/07/2019 22:09

On the other hand, you have to admit it's good it tell people where to get help.

WhoWants2Know · 11/07/2019 22:11

I don't say anything interesting enough for google or Amazon to give a shit.

Iggly · 11/07/2019 22:14

I don't worry too much about what Alexa hears or doesn't. If you have nothing to hide, why would it bother you

Who decides what is and isn’t acceptable? What happens if something you think is okay, isn’t deemed okay?

These things aren’t black and white.

Plus it isn’t just about “hiding”. It’s also the move towards a self fulfilling society where, using all this data, you only ever get fed information or things which correlate to your point of view.

Never get any challenges or opposing views (which is basically what happens on Facebook); so you only ever see things which confirm your view points.

That takes us down a dangerous path

Alexa can fuck off in my house.

Pinktinker · 11/07/2019 22:17

YANBU, I hate these devices.

Treaclesweet · 11/07/2019 22:17

Fuck that shit forever. CCTV is bad enough at least that has its benefits.

livingthegoodlife · 11/07/2019 22:26

I'm amazed. And horrified. Where will this end? Big brother is watching....

Justgorgeous · 11/07/2019 22:32

It’s an open microphone to your life.

Stefoscope · 11/07/2019 22:38

YANBU I get annoyed enough with youtube remembering the videos I've watched even when I'm not signed in. It seems to also remember searches other people have made via the same router. I don't have anything to hide but make a point of locking down my security and tracking so it clears the history as I just find it creepy!

RosaWaiting · 11/07/2019 22:55

oh FFS that's mad

what will they do next, send paramedics round?

I am amazed that people are okay with these devices in their homes.

ahumanfemale · 11/07/2019 23:03

Remember when Facebook was just about sharing stuff with a few friends? And now potential employers, and universities check it? US and Israeli immigration also ask for your Facebook page now too,

So I'm waiting for the day that data from recordings is sold. Not only can your future employer find out about your drunken nights out at uni but they can also find out that you (or someone visiting you) was suicidal so Alexa recommended the Samaritans...

freshasthebrightbluesky · 11/07/2019 23:18

If you have nothing to hide, why would it bother you?
Do you not value privacy at all then? Do you go to the loo and leave the door wide open so everyone can see the face you make when straining for a shit? If someone asked to look through your phone and read all your text messages, emails, photos, call logs etc would you be happy to let them? Would you be comfortable with someone looking through your window at night when you have the light on but the curtains open?

I don't say anything interesting enough for google or Amazon to give a shit.
Of course you do! They're building up a data profile about you and know everything about your life. At the moment it is used to push adverts onto you. In the future, who knows what it will be used for and by whom?

Op, yanbu. I think it's a big step too far and a massive invasion of privacy.

BananasAreTheSourceOfEvil · 11/07/2019 23:18

listening devices freak me out. Its not that Im hiding anything, its just that it means there is no privacy in your home anymore.

Its just horribly creepy to think that somewhere there is a database of what makes my home tick- this is already there from the websites we use, to what we watch on tv and what I buy from tesco and use my clubcard for... but the idea of snippets from my conversations about my family dynamic, health, careers, personal thoughts... is just bloody terrifying. That that data is then used to formulate an idea of me/my family and sold, is just chilling.

Granted this is a public forum and people post anonymously things that they may not say in real life, but by the same token, there are things I talk to my DP at home about I wouldnt discuss on the internet, anonymous or not.

I just find it all too creepy and wonder what is next.

PickAChew · 11/07/2019 23:21

Say something dramatic and. E glad that technology had your back when no human was listening?

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