General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmazon's Alexa Collects More of Your Data Than Any Other Smart Assistant
Our smart devices are listening. Whether it's personally identifiable information, location data, voice recordings, or shopping habits, our smart assistants know far more than we realize.
A survey on smart assistant usage conducted by Reviews.org showed that 56% of respondents are concerned over data collection. After analyzing the terms and conditions of Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Bixby, and Cortana, though, it was clear that some degree of data collection is ultimately inescapable.
All five services collect your name, phone number, device location, and IP address; the names and numbers of your contacts; your interaction history; and the apps you use. If you don't like that information being stored, you probably shouldn't use a voice assistant.
https://uk.pcmag.com/smart-home/136455/amazons-alexa-collects-more-of-your-data-than-any-other-smart-assistant
I never did like these things and don't want one in the house. I'm always amazed how utterly minor the benefits of these things are. "Alexa, dim the lights". Is it really that hard to get up and hit a switch, look things up on the computer yourself, turn the heat up, etc?
They're connected to the internet and they're listening 24/7. What could go wrong by having one of these bugs listening in to your life, you wonder?
elleng
(130,126 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)question everything
(47,264 posts)Well, I don't have Alexa at home. But a spam caller earlier started: Hi, this is Alexa. I hung up.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)My favorite feature of hers, by far, is her reminder/alarm functions. I can set multiple timers for multiple different things (say, ribs and beans) and she'll tell me 'your ribs are ready', etc.
She reminds me of both garbage/recycling take-out nights, is my morning alarm, and I use her all the time to remind me I have work meetings, stuff like that ... any commitment that's in the future that comes up during the course of the day while I'm at home, I tell her to remind me. She's great at it
And honestly your smart phone tracks even more
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)But I'll at least concede they can be useful, unlike these devices.
It probably all dates back to reading 1984 at a very impressionable age. I wonder if that book still seems as terrifying to the generation that grew up with these things.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)The device is not really a 'separate thing' from your smartphone in any meaningful way.
Once you buy one Alexa device you download the Alexa smartphone app that runs the system, and you can then basically make your phone Alexa if you want and never use the device you bought again. The device has very few 'brains' of it's own. It's almost all a smartphone app.
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)Mine isn't. I don't install any apps on it or log in on it.
I know perfectly well that that this isn't perfect, but I don't want any digital assistants of any kind whether on a phone or separate device.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)It's always listening for 'Hey Google'
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)I have data turned off and it's not logged in. It's perfectly functional as a phone, multimedia device and text sender/receiver. I have a separate, free standing Garmin device for navigation.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)But for average smartphone customer who doesn't take special steps for that purpose, having an 'assistant' of this type is really not any more privacy-breaking than having a 'stock' smartphone is in general. Though they are equipped w/a more powerful microphone than a phone is, I'll give ya that.
NewHendoLib
(59,940 posts)to listen they will be quickly sleeping.
LOVE our (four) Echos!
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)but it's not that hard to remember
luckone
(21,646 posts)short term loss issues for all the reasons you said
Plus while I was bed ridden recuperating I could listen to podcasts music etc touch free
Injured , I wasnt able to fiddle with my phone or anything
Yes my morning alarm
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)I haven't found the need for all of the smart devices that so many other people seem to require. I have a dumb thermostat, dumb light bulbs, dumb garage door opener. My range/oven is smart-capable, but why would I even bother to set that up? I can preheat or shut off the oven myself.
Zeitghost
(3,796 posts)We have a network of them around the house, most of which are attached to Bose Wave radios. We use it as an intercom system, a whole house music system, alarms and timers, listening to podcasts, checking the weather for the day as well as controlling lights and other tasks. I have a morning routine setup that turns on the lights, increases the volume and starts NPR news when I tell it "Goodmorning". I have another that turns off lights, turns the volume down and starts a white noise app on a timer when I tell it "Goodnight".
What could go wrong you ask? I have no idea. I'm a pretty boring, law abiding normal guy with a pretty normal wife and kids. Listening in on my household wouldn't be too exciting for anyone. Maybe if I was involved in criminal activity, or radical political activism or something else controversial I would bother to protect my privacy a little more, but I've found that blending in and living a drama free life tends to make one a low priority target for any kind of surveillance.
Anyone concerned with an Alexa or other smart device that is using the internet and/or a smartphone without heavy encryption and using VPN's are not being very consistent in their logic.
Silent3
(15,018 posts)I thought it would be so cool to walk into a room and say, "Computer, lights!" (I always imagined saying "Computer", and not something like "Alexa" or "Siri" ) and have the lights go on.
Now that the technology is actually here? It's a big "meh" to me.
Pretty much the only thing I use voice recognition for is making calls or answering texts by voice when driving. That works fairly well most of the time, but it makes stupid mistakes too. I recently tried to respond to a friend's message by saying, "Ah hah!". Siri insisted on turning that into "ha ha" instead, which would have made no sense as my reply. Not only made no sense, but "ha ha" would have sounded sarcastic and derisive in this particular context -- not my intent at all.
I tried about three times (without sending, only previewing, the message) and then gave up and reworded my reply. Later, while not driving, I tried to get Siri to understand "Ah hah!", but even in a quiet environment with no road noise, no matter what timing, intonation, or syllabic accent placement I tried, "ha ha" was all Siri would get out of such a simple and common interjection as "ah hah!".
I have privacy concerns too. I might be more willing to use something like Alexa if it worked using completely built-in AI, rather than shipping my voice off to a remote server for parsing.
eShirl
(18,466 posts)was astounded to find out it was for real
HAB911
(8,811 posts)to be like Star Trek and say, Computer,.................."
Still would love it now but it would have to be under my control, not Bezos'
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)Isn't that simple?
We have an Echo in our living room. Since it is always waiting for someone to say, "Alexa," it is always listening. It has to, or it would never hear you. We use it for notifications that an Amazon delivery has arrived. I use it as a cooking timer. We ask about the weather sometimes. Occasionally, we ask it to play some music. It can also turn on our TV and change the volume.
We don't have any other home automation stuff, though, so we're using only a tiny fraction of its capabilities.
Am I concerned that it is listening to me? No, I'm not. I'm very boring. Besides, I know just how much computing power it would take to process the voice data from millions of Alexa devices, convert them into voice recognition language and deal with understanding what is being said. That is simply not happening. It's actually impossible, given the current state of technology.
If I were physically handicapped, though, my home would be full of Alexa enabled devices. That would be a wonderful help.
But, you definitely shouldn't buy any Alexa devices. That will allay your concerns and let you focus on something else that is more useful