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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

#21

Post by imrehg »

kinsomo wrote: post #13
simion314 wrote: post #12

This 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.

I wonder how would you even do that? It's not a tape recorder, where someone has to physically press a button, there are no moving parts, thus it must be software controlled.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#22

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

asn0 wrote: post #15

Summary 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!" > th…

> The device did not audibly advise that it was preparing to send the recording, something it’s programmed to do.

Apparently it's not programmed to do that. Unless this was a hardware glitch or cosmic-ray event.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#24

Post by sjm-lbm »

Someone1234 wrote: post #20
simion314 wrote: post #12

This 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.

I'm not entirely sure that this would be a bad thing. It would set the expectation in customers' minds that the device is always listening, which is at least somewhat true.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#25

Post by rolha-capoeira »

imrehg wrote: post #21
kinsomo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I wonder how would you even do that? It's not a tape recorder, where someone has to physically press a button, there are no moving parts, thus it must be software controlled.

I assume they mean that the light should not be accessible to software, just wired so that "if camera is on, light is on"

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#26

Post by _jal »

If you bug your own home and consent to third-party, opaque management of the surveillance, things like this will happen[1].

I expect worse to come.

[1] Am not saying anyone deserves this, or that AZON is either evil or beneficent, or anything else other than precisely what was stated.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#27

Post by simion314 »

kinsomo wrote: post #13
simion314 wrote: post #12

This 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.

Yeah, imagine if some hackers or NSA could find an exploit for this devices, having the LED that can't be turned off would be helpful but not enough.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#28

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

softwarefounder wrote: post #14

Pays Amazon for a listening device and installs in home...gets upset when it listens.

That seems overly simplistic to me.

It's like saying that someone buys a car that's powered by an explosive liquid, and then complains when all the gas in the tank explodes at the same time.

Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact

#29

Post by radiorental »

simion314 wrote: post #12

This 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.

Who is to say it did not turn on it's LED and the owners did not happen to be looking at it.

With that said, my Sonos Alexa has a tiny LED but does respond with an audible tone when the keyword is heard.

That is... when it's not randomly laughing https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/3/7/17092334/am...

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