(Switches can be bought for just that purpose.) A verbal command is far less certain, and devices like Echo will sometimes misinterpret sounds as their “wake word” and record random snippets of conversation.
Alexa just press record software#
A hardware switch is nearly as good, provided there’s no software mediation that could be overcome by hackers. Depriving a microphone of electricity by unplugging it and/or removing any batteries provides ironclad assurance that it’s not recording. The dumber and more straightforward a user’s control, the better.
Alexa just press record code#
Most companies do not make their code available for public inspection, and it can be hacked, or unscrupulous executives can lie about what it does (think Volkswagen), or government agencies might try to order companies to activate them as a surveillance device. The Hello Barbie toy only picks up and transmits audio when its user presses a button on the doll.
Samsung, after a privacy dust-up, assured the public that its smart televisions (like others) only record and transmit audio after the user presses a button on its remote control. Many devices are programmed to keep their microphones on at all times but only record and transmit audio after hearing a trigger phrase-in the case of the Echo, for example, “Alexa.” Any device that is to be activated by voice alone must work this way. Software, once a mic is in place, governs when that microphone is live, when the audio it captures is transmitted over the Internet, and to whom it goes. Once the hardware is in place, and receiving electricity, and connected to the Internet, then you’re reduced to placing your trust in the hands of two things that unfortunately are less than reliable these days: 1) software, and 2) policy. It is a significant thing to allow a live microphone in your private space (just as it is to allow them in our public spaces). Overall, digital assistants and other IoT devices create a triple threat to privacy: from government, corporations, and hackers. It is exactly this kind of self-consciousness and chilling effects that surveillance-or even the most remote threat of surveillance-casts over otherwise freewheeling private conversations, and is the reason people need ironclad assurance that their devices will not-cannot-betray them. Joking or not, in short order our host walked over and unplugged it. The group’s conversation became self-conscious as we began joking about the Echo listening in. Realizing this as we spoke, the group thought of our host’s Amazon Echo, sitting on a side table with its little light on.
I was at a dinner party recently with close friends where the conversation turned to some entirely theoretical, screenplay-writing-type speculations about presidential assassinations-speculations that would be pretty dicey should certain outside parties who did not know us and where we were coming from be listening in.
(I will focus on microphones in this post, but these devices can include not just audio recorders but video as well, and the same considerations apply.) The insecurity of a nearby mic We can safely assume that the number of live microphones scattered throughout American homes will only increase to cover a wide range of “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices.
Alexa just press record windows#
The Amazon echo is not the only such device others include personal assistants like Google Home, Google Now, Apple’s Siri, Windows Cortana, as well as other devices including televisions, game consoles, cars and toys. This story should serve as a giant wakeup call about the potential surveillance devices that many people are starting to allow into their own homes. A warrant from police in Arkansas seeking audio records of a man’s Amazon Echo has sparked an overdue conversation about the privacy implications of “always-on” recording devices.