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this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Of course they are. If you are surprised by this, then you are an idiot.
I work for Amazon.
This has been the case for many years. Amazon has used AI in Alexa and other services for many years as primary providers, and has told it's users it's used it's data for as long. We're talking from close to inception here, so 6-7 years, at least. Hell, LLM's aren't even new to most big tech companies!
I'm all for privacy, but if you want privacy then you probably shouldn't have a fucking tin can in your house that actions every conversation to a cloud service!
Not every conversation, just statements following a detected wake word.
You trust that?
Considering I set up one of the content types that relates to wakeword and utterance text analysis for Alexa, I trust it completely.
But can I trust you? Are you willing to share the source code?
Edit: Tell me why I'm suppose to trust an internet rando?
You're right to be distrustful, but there's a fine line between a healthy distrust of a closed ecosystem and blind worry/cynicism.
Obviously I'm not going to share proprietary source code. Even if I did, it would mean very little without knowing the upstream and downstream services. What I will say is that Amazon is at least honest about what it's services do, even if it's in the fine print. Customers are able to delete their data when they choose to, and if they do, there are serious (internal) consequences when stuff like data deletion and DSAR aren't followed.
Also, it would very little without also inspecting every chip on the board. You could have easily written safe code, but the audio signal could also be intercepted before it gets to that point.
Alexa doesn't solve any problems and only exists to make consumption easier. It's not something I need to trust because it's not something I or anyone else needs.
There's this study for those interested in knowing more about how often these devices mistakenly record conversations:
https://moniotrlab.khoury.northeastern.edu/publications/smart-speakers-study-pets20/
I bought an Alexa but I disable the mic. Do they still listen?
They literally tell you when you go through setup.
Well,that's the thing with "news" right? Just scattered information without context for clicks. If people start connecting the dots and things make sense, most of the news become pretty uninteresting and would not evoke anger, prompting you to click and share.
Harsh but true. We need some tough love in our relationship with tech.
Because most people are idiots.
Ok see that's actually a really good point.