4/21/2017 5 Comments Alexa hears all (#12)As we begin to integrate technology more into our daily lives, we tend to rely on it more. We use assistants such as Siri or Google when we would like to do a specific task without having to type it. It can range from asking for the weather to having it search for something online or even play music. We also have other more upcoming pieces of technology such as Amazon’s Alexa, which is solely used listen to the user and execute what the user requests. In order for Alexa to determine when the user said the activation word “Alexa”, the device is always recording everything that it is listen to. It then sends the recorders somewhere else where Amazon determines whether the user at any moment said “Alexa”. These recording, according to Amazon are store somewhere in an Amazon server and are deleted in a “later time”. The exact time that they are stored range and there is no clear indication as to when they will get deleted. Given that Amazon’s device records the conversations, it will be useful in solving investigations such as the one I found online and that I also linked. According to the police report, there was murder that took place in a house. The exact occurrences as to how it happened are unknown, but the only clew lies within an Amazon echo device that was playing music when the incident occurred. Investigators are asking for Amazon to provide them with the recording for that specific date and time. This mainly goes back to the design of the Amazon echo in which it is always listen to its surrounding for the activation keyword. What this means is that there could be a recording of what happened the day of the incident stored somewhere in Amazon’s servers. Even though these device holds vital information to solving the crime at hand, Amazon is not just going to hand it over cause that is private information of the user and they are not just going to hand over private information of the user without there being a legal statement or lawsuit in this case against Amazon itself. This case is similar to the “investigation into the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, pitted Apple, which built one of the shooter's mobile phones, against the FBI, which wanted the tech giant's help cracking the device's PIN code.” When it comes to these type of scenarios, there will always be a constant struggle with keeping people information private and the government wanting access to their information. http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/tech/amazon-echo-alexa-bentonville-arkansas-murder-case-trnd/
5 Comments
Adrienne Horca
4/26/2017 12:58:20 pm
Jose,
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Christian Martinez
4/30/2017 02:50:16 pm
Jose it was a pleasure reading your blog post. I have heard about these Alexa issues however I do not use these devices for this reason exactly. I think Alexa is a great tool but it spooks me too much to know that there is a listening device sitting on my kitchen counter. I hope more regulation on these devices will come after scandals such as this. Thanks for your post!
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Darren Chan
5/3/2017 09:08:50 pm
I see these commercials all the time on TV and it sounds interesting, but never got the chance to order one for myself. After reading the issues, now I don't want one. But I may buy one maybe later on.
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Lesly Garcia
5/8/2017 02:18:27 pm
Interesting perspective on Amazon's Alexa. I personally have one and I find that I really only use it to have it play music for me. Since I understand that it really is always listening and not only when one says 'Alexa' I have it disconnected most of the time and really only connect it when I want to use it. I have found that it is a very interesting device and is actually pretty cool and fun to use.
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AuthorHi, my name is Jose Sanchez, but many of my friends tend to call me Pepe. I am a Computer Science major at CSUMB and this is my blog post. Enjoy! :) Archives
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