Posted on 07/10/2019 7:47:17 AM PDT by upchuck
NEW YORK — Amazon met with skepticism from some privacy advocates and members of Congress last year when it introduced its first kid-oriented voice assistant , along with brightly colored models of its Echo Dot speaker designed for children.
Now those advocates say the kids’ version of Amazon’s Alexa won’t forget what children tell it, even after parents try to delete the conversations. For that and other alleged privacy flaws they found while testing the service, they’re now asking the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday to investigate whether it violates children’s privacy laws.
(Excerpt) Read more at wreg.com ...
Anyone who 'invites' 'smart devices' into their home is just asking for trouble.
Would you invite an unknown stranger into your home with a tape recorder and tell them to record anything and everything they want?
Sure, being able to verbally tell your 'smart' TV the channel you want to watch is cool. But be aware of the possible undesirable outcomes.
Get an invisible friend it’s safer ,LOL
Friend’s son gave him one last Christmas. Set it up in a couple of rooms.
My friend was talking to his wife about an item they wanted to buy. Hadn’t yet looked it up on line when ads for the item started appearing on both their phones.
Friend was convinced their conversations were overheard so he had his son dis-connect and remove Alexa
Alexa, commit suicide now
It’s just stupid to voluntarily pay to be spied on.
Don’t ever allow cameras or any smart crap in your home. No matter how neat o or convenient
Big brother times 1000
Those types of parents are high risk candidates to bring their children to drag queen events, too, I bet.
It is listening and recording. There is no way I would start a device that listens and records, just so that I can turn the TV off by saying it.
Do you really think that no government entity will ever gleefully wrap its mitts around that information and gloat over what it finds there? Do you really think that innocent words, or words badly understood, will not be used against you?
If some government entity wanted to set up a Big Brother, it would be very easy to do it with your Alexa. Do you trust your government? I don’t. I trust a 1000 pound female bear defending her cubs more than I trust the government.
Hry, Acosta needs to get Epstein another work from home prison sentence so he can help Alexa. A pedophile trafficker with powerful connections has got to work, right.
“Hadn’t yet looked it up on line when ads for the item started appearing on both their phones. Friend was convinced....”
Well your friend is right. Even on an iPhone you can mention needing a new product, then log into Amazon and find versions of the product in Suggested for you. I’ve tested Alexa and yes, if I mention something in converstation around it I will have Amazon suggestions and junk mail on it within a day.
Alexa is great, she helps us with the lights, reminders, shopping lists, etc. Great for answering general questions , spelling, metric conversion, etc. You'd be NUTS to set up that buying thing Amazon has for it (that's asking for trouble). Besides my Apple Watch (which is physically probably adding years to my life), Alexa is our most enjoyable purchase.
Tired of all the dissing here.
Not allowing ‘smart’ items into your home also includes “IOT” (Internet of Things) stuff like refrigerators, dishwashers, etc.
Why does your toaster oven require Internet access?
[[What the hell are they going to “hear”]]
Wife: “Windy isn’t it?”
Husband: “Nope, it’s Thursday”
Wife: “We’re out of milk, you’ll have to drink water”
Husband: “I hate butter, don’t we have any margarine?”
Wife: “I told you to stay away from her!”
Husband: “Yes, your hair looks lovely today”
Wife: “I already told you, it’s Wednesday”
“Don’t ever allow cameras or any smart crap in your home. No matter how neat o or convenient
Big brother times 1000”
100% agree! Privacy starts with smart decisions not devices.
It’s getting more difficult to buy a new TV that is NOT a smart TV.
And often the non-smart TV’s available are now more expensive than the same-size smart TV.
I don’t want a smart TV. Already have a Roku and Blu Ray player.
It’s been over 20 years since I owned a TV so I don’t know much about smart TVs. Is it possible to turn off the ‘smart’ part?
That’s some kind of stupid inviting Big Brother into your homes.
It may be possible to turn off the smart function, but I don’t think I’d still trust it was really off.
I haven’t had cable in almost 5 years, just watch Netflix and lately Prime Amazon (got it for the free shipping). Getting ready to drop Netflix most likely—just kept it for “The Crown” series (and getting tired of waiting for Season 3).
Had thought about just getting a nice HD monitor, maybe 27” or so, instead of buying another TV. But seems like the computer display bothers my eyes more than a regular TV.
I really don’t watch much anyway. Wish I would throw away both TV and computer, and get back to reading books. But I would miss FR too much!
Laptop computers are standars with camera and microphone.you can cover the camera lens but how stop microphone from listening?
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