I just went over J. Kb.’s post and no, it is a horrible idea to allow Alexa or any voice device you do not control, to know a damned thing about your household.
I have one Device with Alexa, my Fire TV stick. Some of you may remember that the second thing i did was to physically destroy the microphone in the remote so even if I accidentally pushed the button or the software had a hiccup and activated the darn thing, nothing would be sent to Amazon’s database.
Oh yes, they are keeping track of what you tell the effing devices. If you go to your Amazon account, click on Content and Devices, Privacy settings and enjoy your history of crap you said through Alexa.
And then…
Those have been times that I accidentally clicked on the Alexa button. Below you will see my testing the day I installed it and then after the mike was destroyed.
No, I was not searching for pervy Celebrity Santa Porn, apparently I have an accent that may confuse Alexa. I was asking for “Xanadu, Olivia Newton John.”
I did not know this next thing, but it makes sense they keep a record of it “for your convenience.”
By now you have to have realized your data is stored where a third party can access it. And unfortunately, it does not matter how tall is the stack of bibles they used to swear your stuff won’t be abused, we know it can, specially if you somehow annoy the hell out of somebody in the company
BOSTON – Six former employees of eBay, Inc. have been charged with leading a cyberstalking campaign targeting the editor and publisher of a newsletter that eBay executives viewed as critical of the company. The alleged harassment included sending the couple anonymous, threatening messages, disturbing deliveries – including a box of live cockroaches, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig mask – and conducting covert surveillance of the victims.
James Baugh, 45, of San Jose, Calif., eBay’s former Senior Director of Safety & Security, was arrested today and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
Six Former eBay Employees Charged with Aggressive Cyberstalking Campaign Targeting Natick Couple
Feeling better now?
Last time I was shopping for a new Droid-O-Phone, an awful lot of them came with Alexa enabled – which suggests coming pre-logged-in to my Amazon account.
It’s bad enough Google can track me; I don’t want Amazon, Facebook, etc., doing that too, and I certainly don’t want to have my (highly-portable, and potentially lose-able) phone logged into any e-commerce accounts.
Turned out Motorola had just about the phone I wanted on half-price sale, with no bundled spyware (other than Android itself, of course).
You do know that your cell phone does the same thing, right?
Which is the reason it is usually in another room when I am home.
I was raised when you had to walk to answer the phone… Still do 🙂
I have an I phone. The microphone can be turned off so it does not listen EVERYTHING I say. If I really dont want it to hear me I put it in the microwave.
The microphone switch… Is it a software switch or a hardware switch? You don’t have to answer. I already know.
Knowing that the microphone is turned off by software, why do you believe that your commands are the only input that controls the switch to that microphone?
Librem 5, Pinephone, etc. Not common, but some phones do have hardware switches. An RF blocking bag if you don’t want any data transfer. Some have a flexible window that lets you use offline functions.