Is the Amazon Echo and Google Home a spying device for the NSA

rokytnji · 05-07-2017, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Arkansas police recently demanded that Amazon turn over information collected from a murder suspect’s Echo. Amazon’s attorneys contend that the First Amendment’s free speech protection applies to information gathered and sent by the device; as a result, Amazon argues, the police should jump through several legal hoops before the company is required to release your data.

If Amazon has its way, the police must prove the state has a compelling need for the information and that the material can’t be obtained elsewhere (such as from another source—a receipt in a person’s possession, for instance). The information sought must be specific and integral to the investigation. If the police meet this test, a judge will review the information in private and decide what information, if any, should be disclosed.

Law enforcement has a well-documented history of expanding investigations into areas that test an individual’s right to privacy. The US Supreme Court, in 1967’s Katz v. United States, determined that the FBI’s use of an electronic eavesdropping device affixed to the outside of a telephone booth was an invasion of privacy, and that the material it collected could not be offered as evidence at trial. That decision demonstrates that there are limits to what the police can do in their investigations and may provide guidance for the Arkansas court in considering Amazon’s arguments.

Amazon’s effort to protect the data your Echo collects by invoking the First Amendment is commendable, but the company has failed to address the real problem: Why is all that data just sitting in Amazon’s servers in the first place? The brief Amazon filed in the Arkansas court confirms that the company saves the recordings and transcripts of your dialogue with Alexa on servers where “all data is protected during transmission and securely stored.” So should we just trust that Amazon’s servers are impenetrable?

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/murder...otion-privacy/

So commit a felony on somebody in the vicinity and find out for yourself I guess. I think this is cool myself.

ondoho · 05-07-2017, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 273

Well, perhaps, but I think that it's telling that most data beyond recognising the word "Alexa" is processed by "the cloud" and not locally. I know voice recognition is better nowadays but it still seem to me that stand alone machines can't really do it properly.
Not disagreeing, by the way, just pointing out that I don't think it probable at present.

i was thinking that also other data could then be transmitted in one go.
not only the voice recognition stuff, all sorts of usage data.
it's so easy to transmit a small text file or a few raw bytes of info, and privacy-wise it can contain so much info.
that way everybody is happy:
- the user is happy because the device isn't "sending stuff into the cloud all the time"
- the providers are happy because they can still get their precious user data
(sarcasm)

CQSWL · 07-24-2017, 09:07 PM

.....

frankbell · 07-24-2017, 09:11 PM

I doubt that they are spying devices for the NSA, but they are most certainly spying devices for Google and Amazon.

I wouldn't have one on a bet.

I am quite capable of walking across the room to turn lights on and off and to start my own coffee maker, thank you very much.

sundialsvcs · 07-24-2017, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua 24:15:

As for me and my house, "not only 'No,' but 'Hell, No!'"

So, there!

Trihexagonal · 07-24-2017, 11:31 PM

I would no sooner have it in my home than turn on my security camera which transmits the signal over wifi to record my every move.

I could change the channel on mine and pick up the one a few doors down.