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The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

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Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#351

Post by bentt »

I know this single bit of news isn't the biggest deal. However we were talking at the dinner table, my wife and two kids and I. We just decided we're done with Amazon and Alexa. My wife has always been skeeved out by the devices, and I've reassured her that the wake word is the only time it's recording. Whether this is true or not, it's obvious that the company can no longer be trusted.

So yeah we're just going to get a cardboard box, put it in the kitchen, and pile all the Alexa stuff into it and Ebay it. We'll use the $21 we get for all the devices to buy ice cream or something.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#352

Post by [deleted] »

_heimdall wrote: post #342
pessimizer wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blaming consumers for climate change is a con. Giving regular people a bunch of useless busywork when they are already busy instead of regulating at the manufacturer where the effort would be minimal is a choice. It will always work. The opportunity to blame your neighbor for climate change for not being as conscientious as you is the archetype of a liberal wedge issue. You can yell at them on social media. But regul…

I'm not blaming anyone. People make their choices, every choice has a consequence. Its as simple as that. It sounds like you may take more issue with the busy work we're all given. Is the problem really that the government isn't regulating problems away, or that people are kept so busy and distracted that they can't make their own decisions?

[deleted]

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#353

Post by SmellTheGlove »

pmarreck wrote: post #340
crims0n wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I homeschool because we feel we can provide a better education to our kids than the local public schools can - making this decision after giving them a trial run. If you do decide to homeschool, it is important that you never grow complacent in how much responsibility you are taking on. So many families around us homeschool for religious/dogmatic reasons and the quality of their kids education is a second…

> tend to do worse That's a subjective evaluation, no? ;) I'm sure their parents would say they did way better on the religion/dogmatism ruler! > So many families around us homeschool This seems like the "gateway drug" to cult indoctrination and worries me. I'm going in completely the other way- My son (who will be 4 in June) is going to a good public school system here for socialization reasons , and I will suppleme…

I agree with you. This is exactly how we’re parenting as well.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#354

Post by ffhhj »

bentt wrote: post #351

I know this single bit of news isn't the biggest deal. However we were talking at the dinner table, my wife and two kids and I. We just decided we're done with Amazon and Alexa. My wife has always been skeeved out by the devices, and I've reassured her that the wake word is the only time it's recording. Whether this is true or not, it's obvious that the company can no longer be trusted. So yeah we're just going to ge…

We should make AI generated conversations to overload their surveilance.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#355

Post by bmicraft »

smitelli wrote: post #318
probably_wrong wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am fully in favor of team "I'm never sending my voice anywhere", but assuming a locally-hosted voice control I'll say: voice is a great interface around the house. If I'm preparing to leave and wonder whether I should bring a jacket, yelling "what's the weather like?" is much more convenient than taking out my phone (or go pick it up from the other room), unlock it, go to the home screen, open the weather app, wait…

I've never liked any answer I've gotten to questions like "what's the weather like." I look at the forecast in my weather app -- the whole fullscreen thing -- and follow some sort of mental algorithm that I can't fully specify to arrive at the conclusion about what to wear/bring. The spoken data feels like it's missing something, or maybe it's just transmitted in a sequence that my brain can't work with. It's not tha…

It's certainly gives a very different kind of answer than my roommate would. Often times the most useful answer to receive can be "exactly like yesterday" or "slightly warmer/colder" - a voice assistant wouldn't do that.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#357

Post by ziddoap »

everdrive wrote: post #186

People don't really care about privacy, it's as simple as that. Yes, they worry about privacy, and complain about violations of privacy. But if they cared, they never would have purchased this product in the first place. There are bits of technology which violate privacy, but are extremely difficult to fully avoid: Social Media, (I know a lot of HN isn't on it, but how about most of your family and friends?) smart ph…

>People don't really care about privacy, it's as simple as that.

A big reason for this is that no one really explains what happens and why people should care.

Typically, it's either a hand-wave to "this should be important, you should care", or steeped in so much technical detail that the non-technical listener has a hard time wrapping their head around it. (The third way it's explained is via a bunch of conspiracy theory/NSA stuff, which probably just turns most people off entirely).

Worse, people have been in a dozen breaches in the last few years, but the majority haven't suffered a personal impact (yet). Further reinforcing "why should I care?".

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#358

Post by tiahura »

bentt wrote: post #351

I know this single bit of news isn't the biggest deal. However we were talking at the dinner table, my wife and two kids and I. We just decided we're done with Amazon and Alexa. My wife has always been skeeved out by the devices, and I've reassured her that the wake word is the only time it's recording. Whether this is true or not, it's obvious that the company can no longer be trusted. So yeah we're just going to ge…

Seems kinda paranoid. I've yet to meet anyone, who's met anyone, who's been harmed by not turning that setting off, or been harmed by any assistant listening.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#359

Post by venusenvy47 »

bentt wrote: post #351

I know this single bit of news isn't the biggest deal. However we were talking at the dinner table, my wife and two kids and I. We just decided we're done with Amazon and Alexa. My wife has always been skeeved out by the devices, and I've reassured her that the wake word is the only time it's recording. Whether this is true or not, it's obvious that the company can no longer be trusted. So yeah we're just going to ge…

I personally assume that they wouldn't be processing all sound at all time from a device because it would be massively expensive for them. Obviously, it's technically possible that they could be, but I don't see how it would be financially possible. If we talk about targeted surveillance, then that is certainly financially possible. But I find it unlikely I would be targeting among the millions of people using these.

Re: The Alexa feature "do not send voice recordings" you enabled no longer available

#360

Post by ziddoap »

tiahura wrote: post #358
bentt wrote: post #351

I know this single bit of news isn't the biggest deal. However we were talking at the dinner table, my wife and two kids and I. We just decided we're done with Amazon and Alexa. My wife has always been skeeved out by the devices, and I've reassured her that the wake word is the only time it's recording. Whether this is true or not, it's obvious that the company can no longer be trusted. So yeah we're just going to ge…

Seems kinda paranoid. I've yet to meet anyone, who's met anyone, who's been harmed by not turning that setting off, or been harmed by any assistant listening.

>I've yet to meet anyone, who's met anyone, who's been harmed by not turning that setting off

I've yet to meet anyone, who's met anyone, who's been harmed in an airplane accident. It still happens.

(No, I'm not saying that Alexa data sharing is equal to physical harm in an airplane accident -- just highlighting that this is a silly argument).

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