"Hey Alexa! Did you hear ALL of that?"

Have you ever wondered if Amazon Alexa is listening to you all the time?

Amazon Alexa Primary Function

- Hands Free -

• Music

• Alarms and reminders

• Internet search

• News and weather

• Home use

Amazon's Privacy policy

- Information You Give Us: We receive and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way.

- Automatic Information We Collect From the Toolbar Service: We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us

Important Court Ruling

"Arkansas Bathtub Murder" case

Police asked Amazon for information from “smart home” devices

Amazon declined the request - did not answer whether or not devices stored information or could play back what they heard all the time

“As a legal matter, it’s unresolved, which is part of what worries us about the whole thing,” -ACLU senior analyst Jay Stanley tells TechCrunch.

Is the “trigger word” real?

• Amazon claims the device can only listen once engaged by saying “Alexa”

• If the device is only triggered by this one word to start listening, how can it hear it in the first place?

• Device must always be listening but only "stores" information after the trigger word, so they say

• Unplugged? If unplugged can it still listen?

Turing Test

When the user asks: “Hey Alexa, can you pass the Turing Test?” Alexa will respond by saying “I don't need to pass that, i’m not pretending to be human.”

Many will say it is exactly like speaking to a human, and Alexa can even learn your voice to answer you with specific, tailored answers to each individual. Alexa would most likely pass the Turing test and be considered able to have human conversations if tested.

The future of AI in everyday life

• Over 100 million units have been sold to date of these smart home devices

• The industry needs to have set laws to be considered “safe” to the public

• Privacy Policy needs to be more descriptive and precise

• “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition. “ - Samsung (Smart TV)

Sources

Heater, Brian. “Can Your Smart Home Be Used against You in Court?” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 12 Mar. 2017, techcrunch.com/2017/03/12/alexa-privacy/.

Bohn, Dieter. “Exclusive: Amazon Says 100 Million Alexa Devices Have Been Sold.” The Verge, The Verge, 4 Jan. 2019, www.theverge.com/2019/1/4/18168565/amazon-alexa-devices-how-many-sold-number-100-million-dave-limp.

Su, Jean Baptiste. “Why Amazon Alexa Is Always Listening To Your Conversations: Analysis.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 July 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2019/05/16/why-amazon-alexa-is-always-listening-to-your-conversations-analysis/#597aeade2378.

Cuthbertson, Anthony. “Amazon Admits Employees Listen to Audio from Echo Devices.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 11 Apr. 2019, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/amazon-alexa-echo-listening-spy-security-a8865056.html.