Amazon Echo - Records & Sends Voice Message to random contact

[Teken]

I love everything my Amazon Echo does for me and the entire family. But with any new technology people must be vigilante and cognoscente about their security and privacy. Almost every year there is at least once incident where these *Always Listening* devices have done something unintended.

The so called *Wake Word* can't be trusted and anyone who believes these devices will not operate with out saying said wake word simply hasn't been using them long enough.

Read what happen to one lady here: https://venturebeat.com/2018/05/24/alexa-recorded-a-womans-private-conversation-and-sent-it-to-a-random-contact/

[mitchmitchell]

Hah, mine sometimes answers me when I *cough* thinking it was the wakeup word...

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Scottmichaelj]

https://mycroft.ai/

[lilyoyo1]

That why I have my devices on outlets. When I definitely don't want to be heard, I turn them off. The Isy will automatically re-enable them after a few hrs if I forget to turn them back on. 

[mitchmitchell]

We really don't worry about it much , anyone listening will be bored stiff very quick.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Scottmichaelj]

We really don't worry about it much , anyone listening will be bored stiff very quick.
 
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
 
 
 

Do you mind if I have your passwords to all your emails so I can read them? I mean if you have nothing to hide and you are “boring”?

TED Talk, Why Privacy Matters.

[mitchmitchell]

 

Do you mind if I have your passwords to all your emails so I can read them? I mean if you have nothing to hide and you are “boring”?

 

TED Talk, Why Privacy Matters.

 

Of course I would never allow that, but we never speak those as they are extremely long random strings you could never pronounce.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[MWareman]

From Amazon:

Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like "Alexa." Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a "send message" request. At which point, Alexa said out loud "To whom?" At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, "[contact name], right?" Alexa then interpreted background conversation as "right." As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/amazon-confirms-that-echo-device-secretly-shared-users-private-audio/

[Scottmichaelj]

Of course I would never allow that, but we never speak those as they are extremely long random strings you could never pronounce.  
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
 
 

My point was everyone says “my life is boring” and “I have nothing to hide” however it’s a proven fact when we are in public we act differently then we do in the privacy of our own homes. There is always a level of privacy you expect to have. This is why we have doors, blinds and locks, etc. Watch that Ted talk, it’s interesting.

[mitchmitchell]

I'll watch it, I've always found TED talks to be interesting, thanks!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Scottmichaelj]

From Amazon: 

 

 

Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like "Alexa." Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a "send message" request. At which point, Alexa said out loud "To whom?" At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, "[contact name], right?" Alexa then interpreted background conversation as "right." As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.

 

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/amazon-confirms-that-echo-device-secretly-shared-users-private-audio/

 

Quick the sky is falling unplug all your Alexa devices because we didn’t hear and somehow triggered all the right responses to all the questions Alexa asked back out loud. Oh and we didn’t hear it. SMH

 

While I am an advocate of privacy, how they didn’t hear the Alexa responses are interesting. The volume could have been turned all the way down I guess from playing music or something previously? At the end of the day this is part of the risk you take using these devices and each family/person needs to understand those risks and weigh them.

 

[mitchmitchell]

Actually if you plug a dot or spot into a stereo system to play music, if the stereo is off or set on another input Alexa will still be listening but you won't hear her responses. I've submitted requests to Amazon to allow setting the voice output and music output separately, but they've not done anything.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Mustang65]

I was watching one of the news channels and came across a story about a guy found out his wife was cheating on him, thanks to Alexa. I guess the unit has a learning mode and constantly listens and works to improve its listening. Well, he had an issue with one of the recognized words/phrase, accessed the file with the triggers (words/phrases) and played them back one by one and came across one that said "Alexa, turn off the lights", needless to say, it was not his voice. 

The reporter indicated that if you are cheating you may want to turn off the "Learning mode".

I can imagine if the guy went for a divorce and used it as evidence along with the times that the commands were requested, as he was at work.