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this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
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The most concerning part about this article is that they put one in their nine-year-old's bedroom.
Based on the article, it lets her ask them things that she doesn't want to ask her parents, though I'm not sure that if I were 9 years old that I'd suddenly want to discover that my parents have a list of everything I've asked it and are reading through it, much less that Amazon has a database.
Yeah, that is a terrible violation of trust. A parent should stop listening when they find out that they have a copy of such conversations of their child. They shouldn't write a newspaper article with citations about it
A parent shouldn't be letting their single digit aged child have unsupervised access to the Internet. Agreed that they shouldn't be publicizing it, but this idea that parents should be letting their kids have secrets when they're so little is one way dangerous adults take advantage of kids.
Yeah, that's a terrible idea.
This seems like a bad idea, to me
To add to the other responses, and I suspect the real reason, is that Coco is listening to Audible Audio books regularly and/or music. It's mentioned and then dropped by the article fairly quickly.
Interesting how every comment on the article is doing the "you're a terrible parent, how could you do that" routine when I'll bet it's there because Coco either took the first one in or asked for a second one. Kid wants, kid normally gets one way or another.
Also, surely this device is no different to a phone in that neither is meant to be listening indiscriminately. There's a chance a 9 year old has a phone nowadays I'd imagine
They work great as an intercom, if you have them in every. Room
Yeah, an intercom between you, your kids, and Amazon.
Because you won't eat your veggies and make your bed.
Why?
Edit: No one answers the question yet downvotes me for asking a simple question that wasn’t clearly answered in the article. That article really didn’t say anything outside of Amazon documents every prompt ever.
Because they have no idea why not to. Despite having written the article explaining that clearly.
Was there any indication that it was listening outside of being prompted? That’s just an assumption and would be no different than the phone we all have in our pockets most of the day.
Must have missed the part where the article explained anything clearly other than Amazon documents all your prompts.
That’s not enough?
That it’s listening and remembering when I talk to it? That’s not exactly spying on us.
That’s exactly what it is.
It gave him back every piece of data he had put into Amazon which was tied to a log in. Where is the spying? He willing did this and the whole piece felt like an observation more than a worry. Just my perception that though.
"it gave him back every piece of data"
Back from where? Back from Amazon where it lives, after being collected from the writer's house. Where it is regularly used for algorithmic massage to better pluck dollars off of them and further direct their media habits.
Honestly, this is not hard.
Collecting data is different than spying.
Wow.
I know, I'm supposed to be terrified of technology, the internet and big corporate!
You're supposed to know spying is all about collecting data
I do know that, but collecting data isn't always spying.
This is the first result for "spying" in a search:
Does it apply to amazon? I think it depends on what's considered "confidential". Which is not just about what one thinks is confidential but the context in which that information is used.
Also, this is just the information they send back to you. It may only be due to GDPR. It does not mean there isn't more.
Of course there could be more but I don’t see the point of making that assumption or living that way. I’ll just limit my data input in case. While Amazon should be more transparent people still wouldn’t believe them and “if” they are truly only collecting the input I give them then I don’t consider that spying. With that said it’s good to know and each individual can choose if they’re ok with it or not.
It's a mistake to send any data to a corporation for their continued use. Yes, it's the default EULA and it's wrong. This is how Brexit and trump were able to happen - they slurped up all the facebook "confidential" data and pinpointed the most vulnerable to propaganda - suddenly MAGA is a thing and they actually got the UK to shoot itself in the foot.
You're getting douchevoted for speaking heresy but you're right, Amazon only records requests and commands - i.e. what you say after "Alexa". Every article about what Amazon actually does and doesn't record is quickly forgotten because sinister plots are far more entertaining.
Thank you and god forbid someone has a different opinion. There are a lot of assumptions on the internet about what smart speakers are and aren't but this article didn't reveal anything shocking IMO. The writer didn't even seem bothered by all of it. It just came off as a simple observation piece to me.
Yeah the tone wasn't OMG I'm being spied on, it was more like here's what I found when I perused an old family album I forgot about.