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Would ALEXA Become the Greatest Spy Ever? [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-23
In the spy world, one of the most effective ways to gather intelligence about someone is by bugging their private space at their home or workplace.
That is typically hard to do.
Legally, it requires obtaining a search warrant after demonstrating probable cause of criminality. Even then, installing a hidden and suitable device, without being detected, can be risky and difficult. In addition, the effectiveness would be temporary, since batteries don’t last indefinitely.
Wouldn’t the installation task for a master spy be greatly simplified if people voluntarily ordered the devices, paid for them, installed them in prominent locations, connected them to the internet, and plugged them into AC outlets?
Well, in fact, that has already been done. Massively.
There are hundreds of millions of locations that have welcomed Alexa-enabled devices in their midst. The Alexa system is powered by AI software that can capture, understand, record and sort the verbal information provided – voluntarily or unwittingly – by people having a conversation near one such device. And it can do it 24/7/365.
Alexa’s supplier, Amazon, does have policies in place that legally obligate the company to (ostensibly) keep the users’ information largely private. To that end, their current Terms & Conditions and Privacy policies consist of nearly 7,000 words of legalese, not counting the thousands of additional words in the dozens of links thereby included.
(Of course, we all read those “Terms & Conditions” and “Privacy Notices” of every online service we subscribe to. We even consult with a trusted lawyer before hitting the “Agree” button. And we do that again every time those policies are updated. /s)
Unfortunately, it has become evident that Amazon’s leadership is no longer autonomous. Exhibit A: Suppression of free speech at the Washington Post.
Additionally, we are observing in dismay how the rule of law is being ignored and contemptuously disregarded. In today’s environment, believing the legal system affords us individual privacy protection may be a delusion.
Given all that, the question to ponder is:
- Should we trust that Amazon, under duress, would adhere to its privacy policies and the law?
I, for one, have never used and will never use Alexa. Not for streaming music, not to control smart lights, not to answer (often wrongly) any questions I may have. I don’t need or want Alexa in my life.
Users beware! It seems that, after a four-decade delay, 1984 has lamentably arrived.
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