This is the story I'm going to link to when my tech geek friend asks me why I don't have an Alexa like he does.
Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
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Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#12This devices should by law always have a big LED on when recording, you would have the option to set it's brightness though.
Also why could it send data out without any confirmation from the user.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#13This devices should by law always have a big LED on when recording, you would have the option to set it's brightness though. Also why could it send data out without any confirmation from the user.
> This devices should by law always have a big LED on when recording
And the LED should be forbidden by law from being software-controlled.
They should also have a physical inline toggle switch to disconnect the microphone(s) entirely, whose state is easy to visually confirm.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#14Pays Amazon for a listening device and installs in home...gets upset when it listens.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#15Summary of vague technical details (which may be all we hear about this):
> an Alexa engineer investigated ... they said 'our engineers went through your logs, and they saw exactly what you told us, they saw exactly what you said happened, and we're sorry.' He apologized like 15 times in a matter of 30 minutes and he said we really appreciate you bringing this to our attention, this is something we need to fix!"
> the engineer did not provide specifics about why it happened, or if it's a widespread issue.
> "He told us that the device just guessed what we were saying" The device did not audibly advise that it was preparing to send the recording, something it’s programmed to do.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#16> But Danielle is hoping Amazon gives her a refund for her devices, which she said their representatives have been unwilling to do. Based on Amazon's admission and apologies, I'd think they'd be willing to give a lot more than just a refund. Seems like a huge liability for them.
Unless it’s expected behavior that malfunctioned. Antecdotally I’ve found a lot of companies support have almost no leeway for appeasement if the triggering behavior is considered “expected behavior” or a bug based off of it.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#17The article doesn't explain much, but it sounds to me like the device mistakenly interpreted a voice command to record and send a message.
I could be mistaken but I believe there are confirmations required? Could it be that the volume was set very low and they inadvertently triggered their way through the entire dialog? I've accidentally set alarms from a few rooms away but this is a whole other level.
>I've accidentally set alarms from a few rooms away but this is a whole other level
This seems dangerous, some smart house could open the doors or stop the heat or stream your entire live on the internet.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#18> But Danielle is hoping Amazon gives her a refund for her devices, which she said their representatives have been unwilling to do. Based on Amazon's admission and apologies, I'd think they'd be willing to give a lot more than just a refund. Seems like a huge liability for them.
That is indeed surprising, unless they're worried that many other people will try to take advantage of such an offer.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#19"Always listening" is a fundamentally unsafe design.
Once recordings of private conversations leave the local environment and make it to the cloud, eventually they will leak. It's akin to data collection by law enforcement: once the data exists, eventually it will be abused.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#20This devices should by law always have a big LED on when recording, you would have the option to set it's brightness though. Also why could it send data out without any confirmation from the user.
What does "recording" mean in this context? The way these devices work is they're always "recording" in a loop on a secondary processor looking for the wake word. If we take this request literally the LED would never be off.