Hey Siri, how many people are listening to me?
Does anyone listen when we talk to Alexa, Cortana, Siri and the Google Assistant? That's what tech companies don't want to reveal. The scandal is that they can actually afford it.
There are obviously people who spend nine hours a day doing nothing but eavesdropping on conversations with Alexa. On behalf of Amazon, they are to evaluate hundreds of shots of users every day, as the news agency Bloomberg reported in mid-April. Seven of these employees have spoken to Bloomberg despite their secrecy agreement. They are part of a team of thousands who work and listen professionally in the USA, Costa Rica, India and Romania. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/is-anyone-listening-to-you-on-alexa-a-global-team-reviews-audio
It is quite possible that this report triggers a tired shrug of the shoulders. After all, after dozens of privacy scandals on Facebook, huge password leaks and of course the NSA revelations, we are used to the fact that privacy on the Internet is complicated anyway. But if a tech company actually overhears and evaluates what we language assistants say with offices full of employees, it has another dimension.
Language assistants like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and the Google Assistant present themselves as trustworthy helpers in everyday life, who you can chat to spontaneously. Alexa lives in smart loudspeakers that users are supposed to distribute in their homes. Siri can be activated at lightning speed by pressing the home button. All assistants have funny sayings ready - chatting with them should simply be fun.
How Google, Apple and Microsoft avoid a simple question
Those who use the assistants out of habit will sooner or later also speak private or intimate things into the microphone. Maybe one day we'll ask Siri sobbing for love-sick tips, search for blueberry porn with the Google Assistant, or rummage through Amazon for advice on how to finally get clean. And then there's all the accidentally started recordings because someone said a word that sounds like "Alexa. Do we have to assume that somewhere in the world hundreds of supervisors are hanging on our lips and are busy taking notes?
The shortest answer to this question at the moment is: perhaps. VICE has asked press spokespersons from Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon a simple question: How many people listen to audio from users? Not a single company was willing to answer that question clearly.
The most accurate answer came from Google: "At Google, some employees can access some audio clips from the Assistant to train and improve the product. It remains to be seen whether the word "some" is just a handful of developers or office complexes full of eavesdroppers.
Read more (German) at:
https://www.vice.com/de/article/9kxwev/hey-siri-wie-viele-menschen-horen-mich-ab-alexa-cortana-google-assistant
👉 Read as well:
Amazon's Alexa Team Can Access Users' Home Addresses
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-24/amazon-s-alexa-reviewers-can-access-customers-home-addresses
📡 @NoGoolag
#siri #alexa #cortana #google #microsoft #amazon #DeleteAmazon #scandal #why
Does anyone listen when we talk to Alexa, Cortana, Siri and the Google Assistant? That's what tech companies don't want to reveal. The scandal is that they can actually afford it.
There are obviously people who spend nine hours a day doing nothing but eavesdropping on conversations with Alexa. On behalf of Amazon, they are to evaluate hundreds of shots of users every day, as the news agency Bloomberg reported in mid-April. Seven of these employees have spoken to Bloomberg despite their secrecy agreement. They are part of a team of thousands who work and listen professionally in the USA, Costa Rica, India and Romania. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/is-anyone-listening-to-you-on-alexa-a-global-team-reviews-audio
It is quite possible that this report triggers a tired shrug of the shoulders. After all, after dozens of privacy scandals on Facebook, huge password leaks and of course the NSA revelations, we are used to the fact that privacy on the Internet is complicated anyway. But if a tech company actually overhears and evaluates what we language assistants say with offices full of employees, it has another dimension.
Language assistants like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and the Google Assistant present themselves as trustworthy helpers in everyday life, who you can chat to spontaneously. Alexa lives in smart loudspeakers that users are supposed to distribute in their homes. Siri can be activated at lightning speed by pressing the home button. All assistants have funny sayings ready - chatting with them should simply be fun.
How Google, Apple and Microsoft avoid a simple question
Those who use the assistants out of habit will sooner or later also speak private or intimate things into the microphone. Maybe one day we'll ask Siri sobbing for love-sick tips, search for blueberry porn with the Google Assistant, or rummage through Amazon for advice on how to finally get clean. And then there's all the accidentally started recordings because someone said a word that sounds like "Alexa. Do we have to assume that somewhere in the world hundreds of supervisors are hanging on our lips and are busy taking notes?
The shortest answer to this question at the moment is: perhaps. VICE has asked press spokespersons from Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon a simple question: How many people listen to audio from users? Not a single company was willing to answer that question clearly.
The most accurate answer came from Google: "At Google, some employees can access some audio clips from the Assistant to train and improve the product. It remains to be seen whether the word "some" is just a handful of developers or office complexes full of eavesdroppers.
Read more (German) at:
https://www.vice.com/de/article/9kxwev/hey-siri-wie-viele-menschen-horen-mich-ab-alexa-cortana-google-assistant
👉 Read as well:
Amazon's Alexa Team Can Access Users' Home Addresses
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-24/amazon-s-alexa-reviewers-can-access-customers-home-addresses
📡 @NoGoolag
#siri #alexa #cortana #google #microsoft #amazon #DeleteAmazon #scandal #why
‘Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over’: iPhone feature will record police interaction, send location
https://www.fox29.com/news/hey-siri-im-getting-pulled-over-iphone-feature-will-record-police-interaction-send-location
#siri #apple #ios #cops #record
https://www.fox29.com/news/hey-siri-im-getting-pulled-over-iphone-feature-will-record-police-interaction-send-location
#siri #apple #ios #cops #record
FOX 29 News Philadelphia
‘Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over’: iPhone feature will record police interaction, send location
A feature exclusively available for Apple users called “Shortcuts,” which was launched in 2018, allows users to conduct tasks on their phones that would normally require multiple actions with a single voice command of the iPhone’s artificial intelligence…
We need a full investigation into Siri's secret surveillance campaign
The public deserves to know the extent to which Apple employees have been listening to our private conversations and intimate moments
No one wants their most private activities secretly monitored. That’s why wiretapping is strictly regulated in the US and most of the world. Federal law makes it a crime for the government to surveil communications without a court-ordered warrant. This is not the issue here. Nor is this a case involving one-party consent. Who authorized the makers of Apple’s Siri and their vendors to listen to private conversations in my home? Not me. So why should Apple be allowed to do this? This is what we must find out.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/14/apple-siri-secret-surveillance-campaign-investigation
#Apple #Siri #privacy #surveillance
The public deserves to know the extent to which Apple employees have been listening to our private conversations and intimate moments
No one wants their most private activities secretly monitored. That’s why wiretapping is strictly regulated in the US and most of the world. Federal law makes it a crime for the government to surveil communications without a court-ordered warrant. This is not the issue here. Nor is this a case involving one-party consent. Who authorized the makers of Apple’s Siri and their vendors to listen to private conversations in my home? Not me. So why should Apple be allowed to do this? This is what we must find out.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/14/apple-siri-secret-surveillance-campaign-investigation
#Apple #Siri #privacy #surveillance
'Where Are the Terrorists?' Apple's Siri Offers Directions to Police Stations, Say iPhone Users
Apple is under fire after social media users shared videos of the tech firm's virtual assistant, Siri, appearing to direct people to police stations when asked "where are the terrorists?"
Several clips appeared on Twitter showing iPhone users asking Siri the question.
The virtual assistant appeared to offer the address of local police departments in response.
Apple users reported similar experiences in multiple U.S. states as well as in Australia.
However when Newsweek asked Siri the same question using a U.K. iPhone, it replied: "I don't know how to respond to that."
Apple did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for clarification on the issue.
https://www.newsweek.com/where-terrorists-apple-siri-directions-police-iphone-1533888
#Apple #Siri #iPhone
Apple is under fire after social media users shared videos of the tech firm's virtual assistant, Siri, appearing to direct people to police stations when asked "where are the terrorists?"
Several clips appeared on Twitter showing iPhone users asking Siri the question.
The virtual assistant appeared to offer the address of local police departments in response.
Apple users reported similar experiences in multiple U.S. states as well as in Australia.
However when Newsweek asked Siri the same question using a U.K. iPhone, it replied: "I don't know how to respond to that."
Apple did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for clarification on the issue.
https://www.newsweek.com/where-terrorists-apple-siri-directions-police-iphone-1533888
#Apple #Siri #iPhone
Newsweek
"Where are the terrorists?" Apple's Siri offers directions to police stations, say iPhone users
The virtual assistant appeared to offer the address of local police departments when asked the question, customers have complained.