Hey Alexa… Can You Give us Some Privacy?

“Ok Google, what’s the weather today?” “Ok Google, how much traffic is there on Route 56?” Imagine if someone watched your every move and heard everything you said. This sounds hypothetical, but is it really? Nowadays, technology is so smart that companies like Google and Amazon have created hardware voice assistants. These devices (Google Home and Amazon Echo) can be placed in any room, and they listen to your voice for the commands: “Ok Google” or “Hey Alexa”. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP), they are able to interpret your speech and translate into machine language. For example, you can ask your voice assistant what the time is in London, and it will instantly tell you the answer. Ask who the president of France is, and Emmanuel Macron will pop up in seconds. These devices can answer over a thousand questions, play music, set timers, ask trivia, call your contacts, and even have little conversation. This may sound marvelous, but it is a major violation of our privacy. If these voice assistants await your commands, they obviously listen to everything you say. How can we trust these billion-dollar companies who are so secretive with their privacy policies to ensure that they are not recording our everyday conversations? I wouldn’t be surprised if Google already has my credit card number. In one case, a couple was having a conversation and it turns out their Alexa was listening the entire time. Without any confirmation, the voice assistant sent the recordings of the conversation to one of the husband’s employees. The couple was just talking about hardwood floors, but what would happen if they were talking about a private issue? Studies have shown that 16% of Americans who can afford voice assistants don’t buy them due to privacy concerns. I myself have a Google Home, and I can recall countless times when it just randomly lights up and says something arbitrary. I didn’t activate the Google with a command, but the machine just went rogue. So why aren’t we doing anything? We obviously can’t outlaw these extremely beneficial devices. But what we can do is regulate them. All companies have privacy policies, however they are so hidden and fine print that nobody reads them. Therefore, companies should be forced to be more transparent with their privacy measures. Additionally, these companies should be restricted on when they can collect data. Companies collect data to better their products, but they should only be allowed to record when the commands are heard, instead of at all times. In the end, the company itself will benefit when more voice assistants are sold, since privacy concerns are long gone. Who knows what blackmail Amazon and Google have on us?

References: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/business/amazon-alexa-conversation-shared-echo.html?searchResultPosition=1