[aargee]

Do you love your Alexa? Read this pls...

A TikTok video showing a woman’s shock at how much voice data Amazon has collected on her has received millions of views and been liked hundreds of thousands of times.

“I requested all the data Amazon has on me and here’s what I found”, she said in a video. The woman has two Amazon Echo Dot speakers and another Echo device to control her smart home lightbulbs

The TikToker then clicked on the audio file and revealed thousands of short voice clips that she claims Amazon has collected from her smart speakers.

She described them as "so scary" and played one of her talking about turning on a light.

There are said to be 3534 short audio clips in that file alone.

She was also sent a 'Contacts' file.

The TikToker stated: "It turns out they have a full list of my contacts from my phone and I never remember syncing that.

"The very last thing that I didn't know that they had, I could have assumed that they have but I don't love that they have, is my location."

She revealed another file that apparently showed the exact location of her Alexa smart speakers.

The social media star often makes videos about data privacy and tech.

She said: "I'm not totally comfortable with everything they have."

The video has been viewed millions of times.

One shocked viewer wrote: "It's scary that people with Echo Dots and Alexa's etc don't know that Amazon records you and keeps the recordings."

While another joked: "Can someone explain to me why this is 'scary'? I'm not interesting enough to care if they have my contacts or audio."

An Amazon spokesperson said: "We give customers transparency and control over their Alexa experience.

"Customers can easily review and delete their voice recordings, or choose not to have them saved at all, at any time.

"Customers can import their mobile phone contacts to the Alexa app so they can use features like hands-free calling and messaging; this optional feature, which customers need to set up, can be disabled at any time.

"Finally, you can grant permissions for the Alexa app to use certain data, such as your mobile device’s geolocation, to provide relevant results (e.g., weather, traffic, restaurant recommendations), and you can manage these permissions in the app."

Sources : https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-b1943527.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/164694...s-shock-woman/

[download2live]

Given the amount of data they collect it is a surprise that they are asking us to purchase these devices.

They should be providing it free!!!!

[vik99]

Adding to the post by OP

Do you love Google Assistant?
Conversations you have with Google Assistant are recorded and stored- link on how to check what's been recorded. Another link on this which also details the process to be followed to disable this recording here.

Do you use smart devices? You know the kind that allow interaction via apps or web interfaces. These devices may be as innocuous as a (smart) lightbulb or a (smart) TV. They all store and may upload information about the device's usage and it's users. This is a price we pay for personalised experiences these devices provide. Think about it, which one would you prefer...a regular light bulb vs a smart bulb which remembers the exact intensity of light you prefer at the time it is switched on?

Without this data, these devices function with a reduced feature set which most folks don't find satisfying. Alexa can't play the song you want it to if it isn't listening keenly to all conversations taking place in the room...

It is for the consumers to decide how many of these 'smart' devices they want in their lives.

More interesting reading here (how to stop your smart home from spying on you).