Is your Alexa listening?

[#1]

I wonder who else is listening? Google, Amazon and Apple staff certainly are according to this news article..  And you thought you were being paranoid every time an ad popped up, not longer after you'd been talking about it.

[#2]

Courtesy of one paid for by Panasonic because of 'issues' with my television (see 'First Channel 4, and now Channel 5' topic) I have now connected one of those smart sticks so seriously, should I be worried?

Amazing little thing I must say, it even managed to pronounce the 'difficult for some' name of our village when I asked it for the weather forcast. Might try asking Alexa to name that one in north Wales which has 59 characters and 19 syllables.

Could be fun.:smiley:

 PS. Channels four and five on demand up and running.

[#3]

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@idonno wrote:

 And you thought you were being paranoid every time an ad popped up, not longer after you'd been talking about it.

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Yeah, that's probably because you were googling it at the time. If you read the full bloomberg report there is no way apple can tie the recordings to an account and amazon say similar.

How people didn't think that would be reviewed is beyond me, it's how the software is improved.

[#4]

Courtesy Private Eye

[#5]

Seriously; my life really isn't that interesting :grin:

[#6]

Alexa, Echo Devices, and Your Privacy

Is Alexa recording all my conversations?

No. Echo devices are designed to detect only your chosen wake word (Alexa, Amazon, Computer or Echo). The device detects the wake word by identifying acoustic patterns that match the wake word. No audio is stored or sent to the cloud unless the device detects the wake word (or Alexa is activated by pressing a button).

How do I know when audio is being sent to the cloud?

For Echo devices, any time audio is sent to the cloud, a visual indicator appears on your device. For instance, the light ring on Amazon Echo will turn blue or a blue bar will appear on Echo Show. You can also configure certain Echo devices to play a short audible tone any time audio is sent to the cloud.

Can I “mute” my Echo device?

Yes. Our Echo devices are equipped with a microphone on/off button. When the button is pressed, the power to the microphones is disconnected and a dedicated red light is illuminated. When the microphones are turned off, your device cannot stream audio to the cloud.

[#7]

Those devices can listen all they like for all I care.

They don't live at my house.

[#8]

Likewise. I'm waiting for the day an Alexa command is broadcast on the TV causing havoc to all who’s watching...

[#9]

People who have one of them spy devices who watch bigclivedotcom videos on youtube have often said that their Alexa fires up when in the videos Clive says "So, lets uh, take it to bits"... :2funny: