Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#81

Post by Accacin » Wed, May 15, 2019, 10:08 PM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #58

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call me crazy but, but paying 30 dollars to lose all of my privacy just so I don't have to get up to turn off the light at night seems like a poor trade. Maybe not useless, but I honestly think you can do better. And a basic raspberry pi could be programmed to cycle through the weather, alarms, lights, time. I guess the crux of doing it that way however, is taking personal responsibility for security, which still see…

I already own other microphones, for example my smartphone, laptop, various earbud/microphone combos, etc. I already trust all those manufacturers not to secretly upload everything I say to the cloud. Why is amazon any different?

Not that I agree 100% with this argument, but it's the best I've heard.

With laptops, smartphones, earbuds, etc. they're not designed to be heard from across the room.. Or even in your pocket. Even when my phones on speaker across the room people will have problems hearing me properly. With Alexa, Google Home, and others, the microphones are specifically designed to hear you from a distance away, over music and other ambient noises.

Simply put, an Alexa or Google Home is a much more effective listening device.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#82

Post by skybrian » Wed, May 15, 2019, 10:34 PM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #77

uzero wrote: post #4

Why people are acting surprised about this? To me it has been always more than obvious that whatever you say to any of the internet connected “assistants” will be stored and kept as long as the assistant owning company likes.

There's a difference between "it's obvious that they're doing it" (which is only true for people above a certain paranoia line) and "here, look at this proof that they're doing it." There are plenty of things that are obvious to me based on my idea of people's motivations and past behavior, but if I talk to someone lower down on the paranoia spectrum they don't believe me - unless I can point to evidence that they're…

It seems like you're talking the difference between suspicion and proof? Saying "it's obvious they're doing it" when you mean you suspect they're doing it is just going to start an argument.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#83

Post by jetbooster » Wed, May 15, 2019, 10:39 PM UTC

oulipo wrote: post #70

This is why we are building 100% offline and private-by-design Voice AI at https://snips.ai , it is free for makers and works in english, french, german, japanese, spanish, italian, and more coming!

This is exactly what I was looking for and was my only qualm about writing a voice assistant! Will check this out

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#84

Post by parhamn » Wed, May 15, 2019, 10:42 PM UTC

oulipo wrote: post #70

This is why we are building 100% offline and private-by-design Voice AI at https://snips.ai , it is free for makers and works in english, french, german, japanese, spanish, italian, and more coming!

Somewhat related: is there a lib or common api for these IFTTT type actions at this point or is everyone building them from scratch?

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#85

Post by mey » Wed, May 15, 2019, 10:49 PM UTC

la_barba wrote: post #54

Which internet company isn't perma-storing any and all 'valuable' bits that happen to be routed through their network?

In theory DuckDuckGo. Just because someone can, does not make it good/right.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#86

Post by emptybits » Wed, May 15, 2019, 11:02 PM UTC

  s/can't/doesn't/

It's a company with the time, resources, and customer awareness to do this. They can. They have chosen not to.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#87

Post by lostmsu » Wed, May 15, 2019, 11:57 PM UTC

SilasX wrote: post #80

sctb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Updated.

Cache issue? I still don't see [video] in the title.

The url was changed to a text article.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#88

Post by Baeocystin » Thu, May 16, 2019, 12:02 AM UTC

spiorf wrote: post #66

Baeocystin wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You use case almost exactly mirrors my own. Even if weather, alarms, time & lights was all it ever did, it has 100% been worth the purchase price. It is genuinely useful to have a no-hands-required timer in the kitchen, and being able to turn off the bedroom lights when I'm done reading for the night without having to reach for a switch is great. I was even pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Alexa's Skyrim. S…

The issue here is that a not too powerful local device could do that without recording everything you say in the cloud and keeping it forever with a label with your name on it.

I don't disagree on that point at all. Just commenting on how even if these devices aren't particularly smart, they still provide useful functionality.

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#89

Post by whatshisface » Thu, May 16, 2019, 12:52 AM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #82

whatshisface wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a difference between "it's obvious that they're doing it" (which is only true for people above a certain paranoia line) and "here, look at this proof that they're doing it." There are plenty of things that are obvious to me based on my idea of people's motivations and past behavior, but if I talk to someone lower down on the paranoia spectrum they don't believe me - unless I can point to evidence that they're…

It seems like you're talking the difference between suspicion and proof? Saying "it's obvious they're doing it" when you mean you suspect they're doing it is just going to start an argument.

I was using it in the sense of the parent comment, I.E. if you put $100 in a room unsupervised with a career thief it's "obvious" that he'll walk out with it. Another way of phrasing it would be, "anyone who isn't suspicious appears negligent."

Re: Amazon can't yet completely delete Alexa voice transcriptions

#90

Post by weq » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:31 AM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #77

uzero wrote: post #4

Why people are acting surprised about this? To me it has been always more than obvious that whatever you say to any of the internet connected “assistants” will be stored and kept as long as the assistant owning company likes.

There's a difference between "it's obvious that they're doing it" (which is only true for people above a certain paranoia line) and "here, look at this proof that they're doing it." There are plenty of things that are obvious to me based on my idea of people's motivations and past behavior, but if I talk to someone lower down on the paranoia spectrum they don't believe me - unless I can point to evidence that they're…

This reminds me of the announcement that Google will let u delete your history.

Yeh, right, when pigs fly. Your history powers their "AI". Aint no unlearning that.