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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

#561

Post by jwhite »

madrox wrote: post #541
duxup wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the first voice command stuff on google. Buddy of mine was trying it out and I couldn't help myself but shout: "NEW TEXT MESSAGE TO JENNY! FUCK YOU! SEND!" Fortunately the phone was too slow to take it all (even if it had Jenny would have found it amusing, she was a cube or two away). But yeah first thing I thought of was that if it's listening how easy is it for it to mistake intent or someone else or etc…

We did something similar to a coworker when Apple Watch came out. He tried to dictate a text response to someone that said “thanks for doing that.” Someone else yelled “DICK!” afterward. Apple Watch is notoriously slow on processing text to speech, so he didn’t think the watch picked it up and hit send. Then the text was added. He had to call the guy he tried to text to in order to apologize.

I was so hoping the guy's name would turn out to be Richard.

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

#562

Post by FPGAhacker »

Bartweiss wrote: post #228
evv wrote: post #201

Earlier 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…

This is actually a pretty interesting question about threat models. A lot of "it can listen" fears are inconsistent with "I carry a smartphone", but I do think there's a meaningful distinction. My expectation isn't secrecy , but it is privacy . I carry a smartphone, but I keep voice-command activation turned off. I'm sure it could be activated remotely, but I expect that would require a targeted effort. I assume that…

They may not be recording everything all the time, but you have no idea when it is recording. At least I didn't on my moto x.

I went on to the google page that lets you see a lot of data they have stored for you. I had read about it in a blog post or something, so being curious I went to check it out. I believe it is the "control your content" page in your settings. I don't want to login to google right now so I might be wrong.

It has stuff like web searches (if you have that enabled). During the year I had an android, it captured several conversations, and I only found out because they were on that data page.

None of them would have had the words "OK Google" or whatever triggers it. One of the conversations was definitely private... it with my doctor during a consult. Nothing that was recorded was actually sensitive, but the fact it happened, and I had no idea, was disturbing.

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

#563

Post by 8bitsrule »

Really, folks... we can't even get the net to work the way we want, but then we heap these enormously sophisticated, delicate tasks onto relatively-untested, non-deterministic warez, and pray all goes well.

Much like running into a human on a bike, but less deadly. (Unless there's a psycho in my contact list.)

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

#564

Post by rdtsc »

monk_e_boy wrote: post #341
duxup wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the first voice command stuff on google. Buddy of mine was trying it out and I couldn't help myself but shout: "NEW TEXT MESSAGE TO JENNY! FUCK YOU! SEND!" Fortunately the phone was too slow to take it all (even if it had Jenny would have found it amusing, she was a cube or two away). But yeah first thing I thought of was that if it's listening how easy is it for it to mistake intent or someone else or etc…

My friend installed IBM OS/2 WARP beta when it came out, it too was voice controlled. We would shout into his room, "select all, delete" or "format c" or other childish fun commands.

Selling a product that had a voice command UI we found that people will go out of their way to mess with it. Sometimes for fun, sometimes to unload their frustration. There is something strange about a voice UI and I think it is the expectation that the intelligence should be about the same level as human intelligence. If it is not there, and it is making the user look silly by making them repeat something obvious multiple times, they will quickly start hating the product as a whole. It's almost better not have a voice UI unless it is pretty darn good.

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

#565

Post by AnaniasAnanas »

harryh wrote: post #525
Digital-Citizen wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, "if you apply General Curtis Le May to a situation and you get havoc, well, that s what you called General LeMay in for" (to use an Eben Moglen quote out of the context in which he said it); if you host a device in your home running proprietary software you ought not be surprised that it is spying on you and the proprietors determine what to do with that data, not you. We must not forget another critical comp…

The idea that if these devices ran free software they would be more humane than the proprietary software they currently run is ridiculous. What are you giving your mom? A Mac running OSX or a PC running Linux?

> What are you giving your mom? A Mac running OSX or a PC running Linux?

I gave my 60 year old mother my old PC running Debian with dwm as its WM.

She likes it.

> The idea that if these devices ran free software they would be more humane than the proprietary software they currently run is ridiculous.

Is it though? I am pretty sure that Amazon already gathers free data from its users, such a thing would not exist in a free as in freedom device.

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

#566

Post by bschwindHN »

pocketstar wrote: post #551
carbocation wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

commodity motion sensors are thermal sensors[0]. Perhaps a FLIR[1]? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_looking_infrared

FLIR for turning off a light in a room seems like a ridiculous amount of overkill. I don't know numbers off the top of my head but I feel like at that point you're using more energy for FLIR than the light itself. Not to mention the cost of a single FLIR sensor is probably pretty high.

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

#567

Post by bcaa7f3a8bbc »

duxup wrote: post #327
yason wrote: post #297

I am oversimplifying here but: * install device that is designed to listen to speech in the house * the device is connected to internet * the device is capable of contacting other internet peers/services/hosts * the device knows a bit about its owner's internet presence such as contacts * the device is equipped with simple conversational user interface based on fuzzy human speech-command detection These basically bou…

I remember the first voice command stuff on google. Buddy of mine was trying it out and I couldn't help myself but shout: "NEW TEXT MESSAGE TO JENNY! FUCK YOU! SEND!" Fortunately the phone was too slow to take it all (even if it had Jenny would have found it amusing, she was a cube or two away). But yeah first thing I thought of was that if it's listening how easy is it for it to mistake intent or someone else or etc…

It reminds me an old trolling technique - using "XBox Shut Off" as your nickname in video games ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGZeU4s28kk

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

#568

Post by xvf22 »

pocketstar wrote: post #551
carbocation wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

commodity motion sensors are thermal sensors[0]. Perhaps a FLIR[1]? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_looking_infrared

These cheap 8x8 sensors may be useful[0].

[0] https://www.adafruit.com/product/3538

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

#569

Post by tinycakes »

It seems like an easy safeguard to implement to prevent sending unwanted emails/texts would be for Alexa to generate a unique confirmation phrase that the user has to repeat back in order to actually execute the send command. Something like Alexa: "Say 'purple people eater' to send email." Real Person: "Purple people eater." Alexa: "Email sent."

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

#570

Post by roryisok »

kelnos wrote: post #543
Mandatum wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Cocaine poodle"

I was really hoping you were joking about that, but I can indeed get Google Assistant to pop up reliably by saying "cocaine poodle".

Well that's just great. How am I supposed to talk about my cocaine poodle now
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