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Old 05-25-2018, 01:28 PM   #1
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Amazon's Alexa listening & sending without consent

As much as like my electronic toys I'm not a fan of the internet connected things. Apparently Amazon's Alexa can hear and send conversations when it shouldn't. Story here.
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Old 05-25-2018, 01:43 PM   #2
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Seems like the owners said (or close enough) some of the command words. We have Google and there are two words you have to say that wakes her up. Highly unlikely the two words would come up in a conversation.
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Old 05-25-2018, 01:55 PM   #3
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And not just twice but four times.
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:05 PM   #4
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Saw the segment....
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:15 PM   #5
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If it's always "listening" for commands, it is probably recording 24/7. How else would they know that a command was misunderstood? And if it's listening and recording everything, 24/7, I don't believe for a minute that everything said is not being recorded.

As far as I'm concerned, people are allowing (paying) for their homes to be bugged, and when Amazon, Apple, or any other entity offers the so-called 'cool, convenient and instant' access to info, I'm guessing everything ever said is on a server somewhere.

Not for me.
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:18 PM   #6
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:19 PM   #7
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Read a boring book out loud....
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:24 PM   #8
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Military Monitoring Station in Hawaii:

Private: Alexa, play "Me So Horny".

Alexa: OK, sending missile warning.....

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Old 05-25-2018, 02:32 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMGM37 View Post
Samsung phones and smart TVs do this too, they say it’s if “technical support” is needed. The feature has to be shut off if you don’t want it to listen. Kinda reminds me of this meme..
Now that there is funny no matter who you are.
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:37 PM   #10
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The story in the click here part of the OP reminds me of the possibility accorded to an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters that one would type "God Save the Queen." Our smart TV is not allowed an internet connection and we do not have cable hooked up so we are almost convinced we can't be spied on.
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:40 PM   #11
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Everything with a microcontroller has the potential to record including your phone, refrigerator etc...
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:54 PM   #12
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We are the same as a few here have mentioned. We do not stream, we do not use voice commands and I have no microphone on my desktop and it is disabled on my laptop, I also have slider to cover the camera. I guess I am just too suspicious.
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Old 05-25-2018, 02:59 PM   #13
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A few excerpt from their terms of agreement:

Alexa recognizes your voice automatically, or when you create a voice profile, Alexa uses recordings of your voice to create an acoustic model of your voice characteristics.

To me that is indicative that it is always recording.

This information may be stored on servers outside the country in which you live.

Your use of any Third Party Service is subject to this Agreement and any third party terms applicable to such Third Party Service. Certain of these third party terms can be found in the Legal Notices section of your Alexa App, or may be linked from your Alexa App, and may be updated from time to time. If you do not accept the third party terms applicable to a Third Party Service, do not use that Third Party Service.

Alexa Enabled Products and Auxiliary Products include third party products that Amazon does not manufacture or develop. Amazon may automatically update the firmware for certain Auxiliary Products on behalf of the applicable manufacturer. Amazon has no responsibility or liability for such third party products or manufacturer-provided firmware.

3.2 Functionality; Content. We do not guarantee that Alexa or its functionality or content (including traffic, health, or stock information) is accurate, reliable, always available, or complete. You may encounter content through Alexa that you find offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Amazon has no responsibility or liability for such content.

We may amend any of this Agreement's terms at our sole discretion by posting the revised terms on the Amazon.com website. Your continued use of Alexa after the effective date of the revised Agreement constitutes your acceptance of the terms.

3.7 Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability. Without limiting the Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability terms in the Amazon.com Conditions of Use, and unless otherwise required by applicable law, in no event will our or our licensors' or our service providers' aggregate liability with respect to any claim arising from or relating to this Agreement or your use of Alexa exceed fifty dollars ($50).


And that's just part of it. I don't want a live mike connected to a remote recorder, in my place. I'm not too lazy to look something up with a mouse-click.
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Old 05-25-2018, 03:00 PM   #14
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Its everywhere in one form or another. Even here on this site. A couple weeks ago I used booking dot com to search for a hotel room in another city (no search engine involved) and within a day there were ads showing up while on this site for hotels in that same city. Not as creepy as an electronic assistant listening to everything you say in your home but it just goes to show how much you are being tracked while online.

Edit: I just now had to edit my conversation because 'something' inserted a direct link to the same hotel booking site.
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