Live data from Hacker News

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

kiro7.com

261–270 of 734 posts

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

#261

I have this idea of a system I would like to have in my house. It contains cameras in every room that are constantly watching where people are and relaying the coordinates to a central server. That server makes decisions on if lights should be on or if A/C should be running in that room. But I would never buy this system. I would have to make it myself. I am hopeful that open source software and hardware can produce…

[deleted]

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

#262
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you build it, knowing guest may never feel completely comfortable visiting your house.

They should feel more comfortable than an equivalent system built by a company that is looking to profit off of your data - and additionally, you can give the guest stronger guarantees that when you say that the system is "off", it actually is.

>> Even if you build it, knowing guest may never feel completely comfortable visiting your house.

> They should feel more comfortable than an equivalent system built by a company that is looking to profit off of your data - and additionally, you can give the guest stronger guarantees that when you say that the system is "off", it actually is.

They won't, because they'll be concerned the person that implemented it is a creeper. When regular people think "cameras installed in the room," they think this: https://www.bustle.com/p/airbnb-host-was-caught-with-a-hidde...

Distrust of a person is more more immediate in visceral. Distrust of a company is more distant and esoteric. The former usually trumps the latter.

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

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both a car and an amazon echo have a switch that turns that functionality off.

I feel like you're being purposefully reductive here. You know they're different right? The entire value proposition (and marketing strategy) of Alexa and related devices is that they are voice activated, so you don't have to physically interact with the device to make a request. Given that, it would be ridiculous to expect paying customers to switch it off when not in use. The onus on Amazon is to protect their cust…

The car analogies are usually quite poor. However, it depends on your use case. Echo Dot's have a mute button which prevents monitoring, or at least it seems so. I'm not an echo power user, so my needs are definitely different than for intended uses like home automation.

I think for some, at least users like me would like a feature similar to "su". I'd like to confirm that Alexa should start doing stuff if it has not been confirmed for x number of minutes. I think the real problem with these home assistant devices is they are not designed with a confirmation message. This would be annoying in some cases, but surely a balance can be struck.

I'm not trying to be reductive at all about the car analogy. When you turn on a car, you acknowledge that the engine is running. You can also mute an echo if you have the foreknowledge that you will not be doing activities that require voice activation.

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

#264

I have this idea of a system I would like to have in my house. It contains cameras in every room that are constantly watching where people are and relaying the coordinates to a central server. That server makes decisions on if lights should be on or if A/C should be running in that room. But I would never buy this system. I would have to make it myself. I am hopeful that open source software and hardware can produce…

> I have this idea of a system I would like to have in my house. It contains cameras in every room that are constantly watching where people are and relaying the coordinates to a central server. That server makes decisions on if lights should be on or if A/C should be running in that room. But I would never buy this system. I would have to make it myself. I am hopeful that open source software and hardware can produc…

One reason you might want a server is to have more expressive power than "if someone literally enters the room, turn on the lights". You might want to turn on the lights and run the AC a little before you predict people will arrive, for example.

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

#265
post #201

I've told my roommate I'm moving out if he ever buys an Alex/Google/Apple assistant device. I have a microphone and I've been intending to get one of the open source solutions working and just tie it in to mpd, weather and a few other things. But all the processing should really be done on your own device, by hardware you own, software that's open and that you configure, and not send up to someone else's computer (ak…

> I've told my roommate I'm moving out if he ever buys an Alex/Google/Apple assistant device. Do you have an Apple or Google device near you right now? Does it have a microphone, battery power, and a connection to the internet? What about your roommate? Do you ever have sensitive conversations near these devices? Of course I'm not suggesting you should abandon such technology. I'm just wondering why you draw the line…

These taps are expected to always be listening and on non-battery power and dedicated ISP connections.

Phones are expected to be on battery and metered internet. There are tricky ways to tap a phone without draining the battery or internet billing, but that very much limits what can be recorded and sent remote. The risk still exists, but is lower and the bar to entry is higher.

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

#266

I have this idea of a system I would like to have in my house. It contains cameras in every room that are constantly watching where people are and relaying the coordinates to a central server. That server makes decisions on if lights should be on or if A/C should be running in that room. But I would never buy this system. I would have to make it myself. I am hopeful that open source software and hardware can produce…

On making, not buying... A lot of home automation stuff seems like something that would be fun to make, but not something I really want to have. I mean, the AC might be a good energy saver (a smarter thermostat) but that's not something I want , more like something that I would buy if it was cheap and practical enough. To some extent, this is a phenomenon of early technology. It feels full of potential, so you want t…

Yeah it's not really relieving a pain point. I've never thought "O why lord, why must I toil away flipping these light switches as I enter and exit rooms?"

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

#267
I imagine there are a number of normal conversations that can trigger unexpected behaviors from these smart devices, especially when you consider the thousands of different regional accents, along with the thousands of ways of speaking the same words with various speeds, pitches, and annunciations. The article mentioned they were talking about wood floors:

...Oak in the annex and for the record...

recording begins

...it's just the annex, stop fretting...

recording stops

just send [flooring person] a quick message with samples you like.

sends recording to someone with same name as flooring person

It sounds like the problem is that it was overly confident it understood the user's intentions, and did all of this silently.

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

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have this idea of a system I would like to have in my house. It contains cameras in every room that are constantly watching where people are and relaying the coordinates to a central server. That server makes decisions on if lights should be on or if A/C should be running in that room. But I would never buy this system. I would have to make it myself. I am hopeful that open source software and hardware can produc…

Might be cool to add thermal sensors to that, so the lights don't shut off because you're not moving enough.

Add in voice, image recording to get gov income as well.

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

#269
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain a bit more. What was the context of the message? was it an email? What was the subject line and the text? Was the audio an attachment or a link? A link to where...? "Amazon sent me a message" is so frustratingly vague...

You're able to send voice messages to other people that have an Alexa. Basically like voicemail.

That means that, unlike butt-dialing, you're more likely to accidentally send a message to someone you're actually talking about since the person's name is part of the command. Yikes!

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

#270
post #212

I've told my roommate I'm moving out if he ever buys an Alex/Google/Apple assistant device. I have a microphone and I've been intending to get one of the open source solutions working and just tie it in to mpd, weather and a few other things. But all the processing should really be done on your own device, by hardware you own, software that's open and that you configure, and not send up to someone else's computer (ak…

So what's the story with that phone in your pocket? ;) you have one, right?

These taps are expected to always be listening and on non-battery power and dedicated ISP connections.

Phones in your pocket are expected to be on battery and metered internet. There are tricky ways to tap a phone without draining the battery or internet billing, but that very much limits what can be recorded and sent remote. The risk still exists, but is lower and the bar to entry is higher.

Post reply on HN