It is crazy , but watching Schitt$s creek, the one character is named Alexis - Several times the dot pops up during the show and usually says she didnt understand the question.
There have been cases of ordering already happening accidently - I believe they were all refunded by amazon.
I understand the concept. And, on the face of it, I agree. But as Iâve been asked about privacy over the years I began to realize that while I would mind, say, my neighbors looking in my window, I would not mind a mysterious âtheyâ watching from afar.
I didnât think to turn off automatic purchasing as I know that it requires a confirmation by default. Iâve had the Dot ask me if I wanted to order something a couple of times and just laughed at what it thought it heard. I did turn it off this morning as it isnât a feature I would use.
On the other hand, the shopping list is something I do use. Iâve never been a list person but âAlexa, add paper towels to shopping listâ works great. I can then look up the list when I go to the store or am browsing Amazon.
People seem to believe that the Amazon Echo is recording everything (as in the police demanding the recordings for a murder that occurred in the room with the Echo), but there are enough people that have inspected the traffic from the Echo who would have demonstrate the data streaming of listening.
Now, is it possible, yes. But if you are using Hey Siri or Hey Google voice commands, it is doing the same as the Echo.
Also remember that just because its not doing it now, doesnât mean it canât do in the future (or be turned on selectively).
We have our ordering set to require a code before it is placed. We have only used it twice to order. Both times were special deals available only via voice order, I suspect to train us to use it. I personally prefer to do research on any new buy and anything we buy frequently is on a subscription already. I just donât find the feature too handy yet.
As far as the wake word, you can wake Alexa even if it is not connected to the internet. She will just announce that she is not connected.
Always recording? no. Always listening for keywords? yes. Potential for additional keywords to trigger âhiddenâ recording modes? yes. Proven abuse of the system? Not that I know of. Potential for abuse of the system? Yes, yes, and yes.
I donât use Hey Siri or Hey Google either. I pull over or wait till Iâm not driving to use the phone. But thatâs just me. I also search for and click on totally random products and leave them in my cart for a while, just to mess with the algorithms. It is pretty hilarious to see an ad for something like a Hello Kitty Onesie when you are on a site that just sells motorcycle parts. When I search for something, I make a point to click on the actual link, not the advertiser/sponsored link. I try not to justify the email spammers, and type links in manually when an ad shows up that does interest me.
Everything that you do ask of Alexa (or any of the others) becomes part of yet one more data block that you have no control over. You canât go back and erase that history.
Here is Mark Cuban talking about why you should take control of your digital footprint / internet history.
You can hear him laughing inside, even as he gives his warning.
I think the only way to not have your life tracked is to stop using all technology. Even just using a credit card puts lots of data out there.
Letâs not forget the Glowforge is a cloud connected device with a camera. We have seen pictures taken when the lid is up. I will not let that stop me!
I watched the video and then looked up that app he mentioned: Xpire. Looks pretty goodâhas anybody tried it? Might be worth a couple bucks.
Nah, you would have to avoid going outside too, because of satellites.
Yeah⌠and it is getting easier and easier to imagine a cashless society.
Which horrifies me.
âAlexa heard you say something questionable, so your bank account has been suspended until the police-bots question you. Your police-bot appointment window is between 3am to 3pm next week.â
âWelcome to Carlâs Jr. You have no money. Your children are hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children are now the property of Carlâs Jr.â
Idiocracy might not be too far off from right?!
Oh, and doesnât the aluminum foil hat stop the satellites from tracking me? Guess I will have to say it was just a fashion statement all this timeâŚ
Idiocracy gets less fictional every year.
Aluminum foil hats donât stop the satellites from tracking you, in fact they make your head more visible to the tracking systems. The foil hats are to stop telepathy and radio waves from reading or altering your thoughts. I donât know if modern Aluminum Foil is as effective against mind-readers and telepaths as old-fashioned Tin Foil, but it is a whole lot cheaper. Magnetoâs helmet, which does essentially the same thing, has been variously constructed of different metals over time (and storyline). If you canât tell that I say all of this with a smile and a wink⌠
Iâm of the opinion, things that need to be private (account information and alike) would not be spoken and if there is nothing thatâs not above board going on in my home or around my phone, I donât really care who is seeing or hearing it. Much like @thomas.alessi.jr stated.
You are making the âNothing to hideâ argument.
I respectfully disagree. My opinion is more along the lines of Greenwald, below. You are, of course, absolutely entitled to your opinion and to disagree with mine.
Over the last 16 months, as Iâve debated this issue around the world, every single time somebody has said to me, âI donât really worry about invasions of privacy because I donât have anything to hide.â I always say the same thing to them. I get out a pen, I write down my email address. I say, âHereâs my email address. What I want you to do when you get home is email me the passwords to all of your email accounts, not just the nice, respectable work one in your name, but all of them, because I want to be able to just troll through what it is youâre doing online, read what I want to read and publish whatever I find interesting. After all, if youâre not a bad person, if youâre doing nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide.â Not a single person has taken me up on that offer.
Glenn Greenwald in Why privacy matters - TED Talk
No. When the govt figured out people were wearing tin foil hats (or lining their regular hats with tin foil) they arranged with Alcoa to change the formulation of aluminum foil to make it transparent to snooping rays. Then price it so low that tin foil producers went out of business and people started using aluminum foil instead. Now everyone is scannable regardless of fashion choice 
Yep, Iâm self-deprecating 
This does not mean that I donât have things that are private as I stated like account numbers. The rest of it really donât matter to me.
62" roll of 99.99% pure tin foil: $50 plus shipping.
How do you know itâs real tin foil?
Maybe itâs them putting âtin foilâ on the label but shipping the scannable aluminum foil decoy stuff?
point.
