Amazon sued over Alexa child recordings in US

[GURPS]

Two US cases allege the firm lacks consent to create voiceprints that could let it keep track of a youngster's use of Alexa-enabled devices and thus build up a "vast level of detail about the child's life".

Amazon has said it only stores data once a device-owner has given it permission to do so.

And it says parents can delete a child's profile and recordings.

Lawyers involved in the cases are seeking damages for the two plaintiffs involved, as well as others who are being invited to join the class-action lawsuits in nine states where it's claimed Amazon is in breach of privacy laws.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48623914

 

[Yooper]

Speaking of "recordings".... (Yes, Google and not Amazon, but this is an appropriate thread to post to.)

Another reason to be cautious with our friends in Big Tech.

Google admits partners leaked more than 1,000 private conversations with Google Assistant

Google on Wednesday admitted that partners who work to analyze voice snippets collected when people talk to the Google Assistant were leaked to a Belgian press outlet.

www.cnbc.com

Google admitted on Thursday that more than 1,000 sound recordings of customer conversations with the Google Assistant were leaked by some of its partners to a Belgian news site.

These conversations are used by companies such as Google and Amazon -- which takes clips from the Amazon Echo -- to improve voice responses from their smart assistants. They are supposed to be kept confidential.
...

[Google product manager of search David Monsees] said its partners only listen to “around 0.2 percent of all audio snippets” and said they are “not associated with user accounts,” even though VRT was able to figure out who was speaking in some of the clips.

emphasis mine

And another article on the same....

Yep, human workers are listening to recordings from Google Assistant, too

Including audio recorded by mistake

www.theverge.com

Which added this:

Worse, these audio clips are often recorded entirely by accident. Usually, AI assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant only start recording audio when they hear their wake word (eg, “Okay Google”), but these reports show the devices often start recording by mistake.

And:

...companies are certainly not upfront about this transcription process. The privacy policy page for Google Home, for example, does not mention the company’s use of human contractors, or the possibility that Home might mistakenly record users.

emphasis mine

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[Yooper]

And one more (with a heavy dose of irony; note the subject and compare to the article's publisher):

People 'have no clue' how much data Facebook and Google collect, antitrust advocate says

Most people have "no clue" how much data big tech companies are collecting about them, and the risks of this electronic surveillance are great, said an advocate for stricter regulation.

news.yahoo.com

(Amazed; no statement in the article that points readers to Yahoo's policies.)

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[GWguy]

These things are listening even when you don't address them. When visiting my brother, I asked him what was around for auto parts. He said "Obrien Auto Parts in Rogers". I took out my phone, opened Google Search and typed in "ob". It immediately auto filled with "Obrien Auto Parts, Rogers AR".

Come on....... how did it possibly know to auto fill with that from "ob", especially when my "home" is no where near that and I don't have location services turned on?