Tangential point, but you would think that Amazon would have immediately given this woman the refund she asked for, rather than instead offering to take her through a technically complex de-provisioning process. It just makes them look even worse during the inevitable bad publicity that they had to know they were going to get from this.
Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
281–290 of 734 posts
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#282>"The person on the other line said, 'unplug your Alexa devices right now,'" she said. "'You're being hacked.'"
Perhaps they were indeed hacked. Got into test group for some black hats project.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#283I 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…
But then how can I sell the analytics data for billions of dollars? /s
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
> I'm just wondering why you draw the line at "Alex/Google/Apple assistant device" There’s a big difference between: - Devices which are by design always actively listening and sending real-time audio to computers you can’t control or even really trust, with unknown security properties, and consumer-appliance security life-cycles/support - Devices that can be configured to do that, but which you have some control ove…
To be fair, Apple’s homepod doesn’t send any data until it’s activated with the wake word. Amazon and google products send a ton of data back constantly.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#285Earlier 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.
I'd also like them to dim if I'm holding a glass of wine and/or move in a particular manner.
Edit: typo
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
> I'm just wondering why you draw the line at "Alex/Google/Apple assistant device" There’s a big difference between: - Devices which are by design always actively listening and sending real-time audio to computers you can’t control or even really trust, with unknown security properties, and consumer-appliance security life-cycles/support - Devices that can be configured to do that, but which you have some control ove…
There’s a third distinction that separates devices:
- Devices that have the ability to perform unsafe behaviors such as “record a conversation and share it to someone else”.
Is it possible to ask a HomePod to transmit an audio recording of a conversation?
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#287It's absurd to me that someone would wire up "every room in their house" with internet connected microphones (in a technology that is still in it's infancy!) and then claim you felt like your privacy was "invaded". At best, it's a Trojan Horse, but the naivety here is astounding. Of course your Echo shouldn't send out private conversations, and it looks like a legitimate bug occurred. But man, the buy-now think-later…
You literally carry an audio & video recording device with a GPS chip and multiple wireless attack vectors on you for nearly every waking hour of your life.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#288I'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…
Speaking for myself, I have my iPhone set so that I have to authenticate then hold down the physical home button before Siri will start listening to me. Home assistant devices are listening all the time.
The reason this matters is well-illustrated by the linked story here--the potential consequences of bugs are more severe when the mic is always on.
The way I have Siri configured, the opportunity to make mistakes about what I mean is limited to when I am intending to speak directly to Siri. It's not that often, and I am aware of what I'm doing.
But if Alexa is going to make a mistake about a trigger word and start transmitting data... well, that potentially could happen whenever I'm in voice range.
Sure, if some three letter agency is targeting me, a smartphone is probably no safer than a home assistant. But I'm not concerned about that level of targeting, for myself.
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#289Earlier 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.
If you're staying that still, you likely don't need room lights on. Why not just use an area/task light if you're performing a stationary task?
Re: Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
#290I 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…
Your solution is simple. However, it doesn't allow for as much modification as the original poster's idea. With his idea it could be modified in so many ways to add functionality because it wouldn't be limited by the technology. The solution you supplied will eventually be limited by the technology if the original poster wants to add other functions.