"I've got my eyes on you, Anita."
"And I have my eyes on you, Laura."
Posted on 07/29/2015 3:46:21 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Like a lot of teenagers, Aanya Nigam reflexively shares her whereabouts, activities and thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and other social networks without a qualm.
But Aanya's care-free attitude dissolved into paranoia a few months ago shortly after her mother bought Amazon's Echo, a digital assistant that can be set up in a home or office to listen for various requests, such as for a song, a sports score, the weather, or even a book to be read aloud.
After using the Internet-connected device for two months, Aanya, 16, started to worry that the Echo was eavesdropping on conversations in her Issaquah, Washington, living room. So she unplugged the device and hid it in a place that her mother, Anjana Agarwal, still hasn't been able to find.
"I guess there is a difference between deciding to share something and having something captured by something that you don't know when it's listening," Agarwal said of her daughter's misgivings.
The Echo, a $180 cylindrical device that began general shipping in July after months of public testing, is the latest advance in voice-recognition technology that's enabling machines to record snippets of conversation that are analyzed and stored by companies promising to make their customers' lives better.
Other increasingly popular forms of voice-recognition services include Apple's Siri assistant on mobile devices, Microsoft's Cortana and the "OK Google" feature for speaking to Google's search engine. Spoken commands can also be used to find something to watch on some TVs, and an upcoming Barbie doll will include an Internet-connected microphone to hear what's being said.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
I think that I heard that wifi at home can pick up what is being said at home. Is this true?
"I've got my eyes on you, Anita."
"And I have my eyes on you, Laura."
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