Alexa, only over my dead body—this house will remain largely free of technology
O
Obstlerbaum26 Oct 2018 15:01Steffen80 schrieb:
@Obstlerbaum so you don’t use a smartphone or online banking either? I see I prefer to stay out of it. You just seem to want to prove that you have to give up everything if you don’t love Alexa as much as you do. Enjoy yourself…
So far, everything that is technically possible has sooner or later been done. It’s only a matter of time. Unless you are completely out of touch... And regarding Alexa, I’m more for “earlier” (in the sense of the past). I don’t want to make it easier for intelligence agencies to sneak a microphone into my house...
S
Steffen8027 Oct 2018 07:51It’s unbelievable how people write here without any facts... You’re making yourselves look ridiculous! Incredible!
The fact is: Alexa CURRENTLY (and that’s all this is about!) DOES NOT secretly send any information anywhere. What Alexa sends is transparent and traceable! Period, end of story! This can be proven. Anyone claiming otherwise without having arguments and just “babbling” belongs in the same group as 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
PS: My company makes money with cryptography and network traffic monitoring, and I have also developed skills for Alexa. Unlike the chatterboxes here... I have REAL background knowledge about Alexa.
The fact is: Alexa CURRENTLY (and that’s all this is about!) DOES NOT secretly send any information anywhere. What Alexa sends is transparent and traceable! Period, end of story! This can be proven. Anyone claiming otherwise without having arguments and just “babbling” belongs in the same group as 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
PS: My company makes money with cryptography and network traffic monitoring, and I have also developed skills for Alexa. Unlike the chatterboxes here... I have REAL background knowledge about Alexa.
Soroka schrieb:
I don’t need to make it easier for intelligence agencies to sneak a microphone into my house... That’s not even necessary: they can tap your phone, etc., and there are already enough microphones in the house. But I can understand being wary if you’re uneasy about Alexa.
Steffen, you are focusing on an irrelevant detail.
For the device to function, voice commands need to be transmitted to the US cloud. Authorities have access to this data. They now know your voice and can do whatever they want with it. They can match it, reproduce it. For what purpose? Who knows.
Even if Alexa currently only listens when you want it to (for example, during measurements made by the blogger or yourself), that’s good. But it doesn’t mean this will always be the case. The microphone is there, the device is online. Under US control, and in case of security vulnerabilities, possibly under the control of third parties. See Hue lamps. Open as a barn door, unfortunately unpatchable, and nobody cares. If this is not a problem for you, fine. For others, it is.
All devices with (permanent) internet access must be patchable. Manufacturers must be required to provide patches. Furthermore, microphone arrays must be clearly identifiable, just like video recordings. A sign on the front door.
For the device to function, voice commands need to be transmitted to the US cloud. Authorities have access to this data. They now know your voice and can do whatever they want with it. They can match it, reproduce it. For what purpose? Who knows.
Even if Alexa currently only listens when you want it to (for example, during measurements made by the blogger or yourself), that’s good. But it doesn’t mean this will always be the case. The microphone is there, the device is online. Under US control, and in case of security vulnerabilities, possibly under the control of third parties. See Hue lamps. Open as a barn door, unfortunately unpatchable, and nobody cares. If this is not a problem for you, fine. For others, it is.
All devices with (permanent) internet access must be patchable. Manufacturers must be required to provide patches. Furthermore, microphone arrays must be clearly identifiable, just like video recordings. A sign on the front door.