Alexa Records Personal Conversation, Emails It To Contact

[angelatc]

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...d-conversation

The company, which has insisted its Echo devices aren’t always recording, has confirmed the audio was sent

Over and over again, company spokespeople have promised that they only start recording if someone says the wake word: “Alexa”.

It’s a spiel Danielle, an Alexa user from Portland, Oregon, had believed. She’d installed Echo devices and smart bulbs in every room in her house, accepting Amazon’s claims that they were not invading her privacy. But today she asked the company to investigate after an Alexa device recorded a private conversation between her and her husband and sent it to a random number in their address book without their permission.

Danielle found out her Alexa was recording when she received an alarming call from one of her husband’s colleagues saying: “Unplug your Alexa devices right now, you’re being hacked.”

She told KIRO-TV in Seattle that at first she didn’t believe the co-worker, but then she said: “You sat there talking about hardwood floors.” Danielle realised the colleague must have heard everything.

“I felt invaded,” she told KIRO-TV. “A total privacy invasion. Immediately, I said, ‘I’m never plugging that device in again because I can’t trust it.’”

An Amazon customer service representative confirmed that Danielle’s audio had been sent to the number and apologised but didn’t provide any information about why the device had been activated. A spokesperson for the company said it had “determined this was an extremely rare occurrence”.

Although Amazon maintains this was a malfunction rather than proof Alexa is always listening, the company has filed patent applications in the past for functionalities that involve always listening, such as an algorithm that would analyse when people say they “love” or “bought” something. The patent included a diagram where two people have a phone conversation and were served afterwards with separate targeted advertisements.

We have learned to love Big Brother.

[timosman]

I just watched this on the news. They ended with - Keep those conversations tame!

[angelatc]

bump

[kcchiefs6465]

Your cellphone does the same.

[Suzanimal]

I hope I don't sound crazy but something in my house is recording me. I know this because Mr A and I have had conversations and when I go to my pinterest feed, there are ads for things we've talked about. At first, I thought I must've searched something but it got weird so I made a point of talking about buying something and NOT searching it. I don't have that many "smart" appliances so I plan on going through the house and trying to figure out how to shut down the internet on them.

[Danke]

I hope I don't sound crazy but something in my house is recording me. I know this because Mr A and I have had conversations and when I go to my pinterest feed, there are ads for things we've talked about. At first, I thought I must've searched something but it got weird so I made a point of talking about buying something and NOT searching it. I don't have that many "smart" appliances so I plan on going through the house and trying to figure out how to shut down the internet on them.

Probably from your implant.

[angelatc]

I hope I don't sound crazy but something in my house is recording me. I know this because Mr A and I have had conversations and when I go to my pinterest feed, there are ads for things we've talked about. At first, I thought I must've searched something but it got weird so I made a point of talking about buying something and NOT searching it. I don't have that many "smart" appliances so I plan on going through the house and trying to figure out how to shut down the internet on them.

My guess would be your smartphone.

[Suzanimal]

Probably from your implant.

Nah, I had it removed.

My guess would be your smartphone.

That's what I'm guessing, too. I keep it in the kitchen and that's where we would be chatting about buying something.

[angelatc]

Nah, I had it removed.



That's what I'm guessing, too. I keep it in the kitchen and that's where we would be chatting about buying something.

The other alternative is meta-data analysis, which I remember hearing about in the late '80's. Retailers would analyze the shopping habits of all their customers, and then "guess" what items they would be looking for next and would make suggestions to their catalog customers. I remember being surprised at how random the suggestions seemed.

So if you're browsing with cookies and all turned on, and we assume that all our credit/debit purchases are recorded as well, it's possible that the suggestions you see are targeted to you based on what they think you're going to be looking for, even if you don't even know you want it yet.

[donnay]

How about your TV?

Flashback:
New FCC Regulation Raises Concerns Over Spying TVs and Obsolescence
https://gizmodo.com/new-fcc-regulati...and-1820543125

[Suzanimal]

The other alternative is meta-data analysis, which I remember hearing about in the late '80's. Retailers would analyze the shopping habits of all their customers, and then "guess" what items they would be looking for next and would make suggestions to their catalog customers. I remember being surprised at how random the suggestions seemed.

So if you're browsing with cookies and all turned on, and we assume that all our credit/debit purchases are recorded as well, it's possible that the suggestions you see are targeted to you based on what they think you're going to be looking for, even if you don't even know you want it yet.

I don't think so. It's off the wall stuff that coming up on my feed. For example, I was talking to Mr A about stupid baby names (my step brother and his wife just had a baby and gave her a stripper name) and within a few days a bunch of baby name links were coming up on my feed. I wasn't googling anything about babies or baby names or shopping for baby stuff. I gave my step brother a card with some cash at the shower and I didn't even bother looking at their registry.

[Suzanimal]

How about your TV?

Flashback:
New FCC Regulation Raises Concerns Over Spying TVs and Obsolescence
https://gizmodo.com/new-fcc-regulati...and-1820543125

I do have a smart tv but it's not in the room where conversations have turned into pinterest suggestions. I think angela's right about my phone because I keep it in the conversation area. Plus, Mr A doesn't let me talk when he has the tv on and we never sit in there unless we're watching something.

[angelatc]

I don't think so. It's off the wall stuff that coming up on my feed. For example, I was talking to Mr A about stupid baby names (my step brother and his wife just had a baby and gave her a stripper name) and within a few days a bunch of baby name links were coming up on my feed. I wasn't googling anything about babies or baby names or shopping for baby stuff. I gave my step brother a card with some cash at the shower and I didn't even bother looking at their registry.

Did you buy the card with a debit card?

[Suzanimal]

Did you buy the card with a debit card?

Nope. I'm cheap. I fold up some paper, tape 1.08 (price of a card at the Dollar Tree)to the paper, and write a note about how I thought they'd rather have the extra 1.08 than a card.

The daughter of a friend of mine wrote Thanks on the same piece of paper and sent it back to me instead of a Thank You card one year. That was funny.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Soon your facebook account (required by law, must post 5 updates week) will be on your driver's license and if you don't keep your smartphone on 24/7 for 24/7 snooping you will be fined under the "AMERICA IS GREAT" act.

[angelatc]

Nope. I'm cheap. I fold up some paper, tape 1.08 (price of a card at the Dollar Tree)to the paper, and write a note about how I thought they'd rather have the extra 1.08 than a card.

The daughter of a friend of mine wrote Thanks on the same piece of paper and sent it back to me instead of a Thank You card one year. That was funny.

Damn. You are cheaper than I am. I have to work on that.

[Danke]

Nope. I'm cheap. I fold up some paper, tape 1.08 (price of a card at the Dollar Tree)to the paper, and write a note about how I thought they'd rather have the extra 1.08 than a card.

The daughter of a friend of mine wrote Thanks on the same piece of paper and sent it back to me instead of a Thank You card one year. That was funny.

My gifts usually cost less than the card.

[Danke]

I hope I don't sound crazy but something in my house is recording me. I know this because Mr A and I have had conversations and when I go to my pinterest feed, there are ads for things we've talked about. At first, I thought I must've searched something but it got weird so I made a point of talking about buying something and NOT searching it. I don't have that many "smart" appliances so I plan on going through the house and trying to figure out how to shut down the internet on them.

[Suzanimal]

My guess would be your smartphone.

I think you're 100% right. I don't have FB but I do have Pinterest on my phone.

For your smartphone to actually pay attention and record your conversation, there needs to be a trigger, such as when you say “hey Siri” or “okay Google.” In the absence of these triggers, any data you provide is only processed within your own phone. This might not seem a cause for alarm, but any third party applications you have on your phone—like Facebook for example—still have access to this “non-triggered” data. And whether or not they use this data is really up to them.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...s-Not-Paranoia

[angelatc]

I think you're 100% right. I don't have FB but I do have Pinterest on my phone.



http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...s-Not-Paranoia

I thought of you immediately when I saw that

[Suzanimal]

Okay, it's really creepy. This morning I was in the kitchen cleaning my iron (I've never looked up cleaning an iron on the internet) when Mr A came down to leave for work and wondered why the iron was sitting on the kitchen island. I explained I was cleaning it. I just checked my Pinterest and this was right at the top of my feed...

[angelatc]

The biggest shocker here is, I think, that you still iron?

[Suzanimal]

The biggest shocker here is, I think, that you still iron?

Admittedly, I use my steamer more than the iron but I do iron once a week.

[Suzanimal]

I told Mr A about the spyphone and he wants to build a lock box for it to charge in. It seems like it would be easier to just move the charger to the garage but whatever.

[Swordsmyth]

I told Mr A about the spyphone and he wants to build a lock box for it to charge in. It seems like it would be easier to just move the charger to the garage but whatever.

[DamianTV]

I told Mr A about the spyphone and he wants to build a lock box for it to charge in. It seems like it would be easier to just move the charger to the garage but whatever.

Use a Microwave. No, dont turn it on, but the shielding on a Microwave effectively works as a Faraday Cage. You can try it yourself. Toss a phone in a microwave and again do NOT turn the microwave on, then try to call that cell phone.