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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPeople Who Buy Smart Speakers Have Given Up on Privacy, Researchers Find
Smart speakers raise a number of privacy questions, which owners are choosing to just shrug off
By Kaleigh Rogers
Nov 26 2018, 2:58pm
Image: Pexels
If you find always-listening smart devices creepy, but bought an Amazon Echo anyway, youre not alone. A recent study from researchers at the University of Michigan found that people who own smart speakers are aware of the risks, but feel resigned to the idea that the erosion of privacy is now a fact of life.
What was really concerning to me was this idea that its just a little bit more info you give Google or Amazon, and they already know a lot about you, so how is that bad? said Florian Schaub, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Information and a co-author of the study. Its representative of this constant erosion of what privacy means and what our privacy expectations are.
Smart home deviceslike internet-connected speakers, TVs, and microwaveshave been involved in multiple privacy scandals. This year, a couples private conversation was recorded by their smart speaker and then sent to a random contact. In 2015, people discovered that a buried line in the privacy policy for Samsungs smart TVs meant that everything you say could be captured and sent to a third party. Like all internet-connected tech, such devices are also susceptible to data breaches or hacks.
Yet despite knowledge of these risks, many people say theyre resigned to the idea that were going to be spied on and theres nothing we can do about it.
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More at link.
hlthe2b
(102,509 posts)so and surely those speakers and related technology HAD to pose a major breach.
To use Facebook now--given their track record and overt disdain for privacy protections (though nearly everyone I know DOES) seems even more ludicrous. I can only assume a large proportion of the public just doesn't care about privacy. I fear that will come back to bite them in spades.
ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)This is really a product i don't understand. Was it that hard to turn on the stereo to listen to music?
Was it that hard to set an alarm on the phone, and prior to that on an alarm clock?
This is a shiny new toy thing, where people just have to have one, although its actual benefits do not create much impact on 99.9% of people's lives.
I'm not worried about any erosion of privacy over these things. I'm just not buying one.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,951 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)In fact, we once replaced a paddle fan that had a remote. I have the slightest idea of what i might have done with that remote.
Same thing with a floor fan, same thing with a space heater.
For all those, the way to turn them on and off, set the speed or temperature and have a timer shut them off is so easy, there's no reason to waste the money on batteries for the remotes!
BumRushDaShow
(129,951 posts)being the "remote" for everything from the TV to the fans/ACs since there were no remotes. We did have mechanical timers all over the house though for the lights (and I have many myself in my household).
I remember when my sister's godparents bought one of the early VCRs (toploader) with a "wired" remote - I think it had to have been in the late '70s/early '80s (they were always "early adopters" ) and the cord was so short that they had a chair next to the shelf with the VCR and TV meaning... you might as well have just used the buttons that were right there!
And no, I never had a "Clapper" either. IMHO, that was ridiculous but the commercials were hilarious.
ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)So, back in the mid 80's or so, our cable system was expanding the channel line up, but were still in beta. (Our cable was just 2 through 13 with something on every channel. About the only national things we had were HBO on 3, TBS on 6 and USA network on 10)
The soundman of the band worked as the head tech for a larger cable hub about 30 miles north. At that time, they were upgraded all their boxes with a far more advanced system with IR remotes, and things like "last channel" and "favorites".
That's pretty much what we got too, but not for nearly 9 months.
So, he brings over this box, knowing that the channels are actually out there on the wire.
Thing had 9 buttons on it, and this little paddle switch on the left so there were A, B, and C banks. So, there 27 channels out there.
But, it wasn't wireless. It had a cord, but unlike your sister's GPs, this thing had a cord so long that i wrapped around the room to the coffee table and still had a coil of cable about 15 feet long behind the TV. I could have put that remote outside, the cord was so long!
BumRushDaShow
(129,951 posts)my city (Philly) didn't even start discussing awarding franchises until 1984 (they split the city in quarters) and we didn't get any until 1989 after some neighbors refused to have the cableco run house-to-house wiring across their house, so the company skipped the rest of the block (and the city had to go around and sue for easement and right-of-way while we were chasing the cable guy down the street to get signed up and eventually get wired). I think it was in '83 when we finally got a tv with a big honkin' remote (probably took a 9 volt batt).
And of course, most of the channels weren't scrambled back then so technically, you didn't even need to do anything with the box, you could go direct to the RF jack (or get a little adapter thing that would connect to the antenna screws and then you could screw the cable to the adapter). But their early boxes required a phone cord connected to do the pay per view, so that became a long cord getting to a phone jack.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)Also my two Fire tablets. I thought I had Alexa turned off, but it asked me a question.
What I don't like about my Fire sticks is how it assumes I am asking for other things besides tv shows and movies.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)Reminds of the old Seinfeld line about cruise control. We got that because while driving we didn't want to have to push down on the pedal. Then we got so used to it that when someone made us tap the brake, we got mad because we had to push the button again!
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Like all consumer items, we invest amount X of worth into a product, and weigh the risk/cost.
"Was it that hard to set an alarm on the phone, and prior to that on an alarm clock?"
No more and no less than reading the sun-dial, or winding the village's tower clock. No doubt, their derision of our laziness and toys such as stereos and beepers would outstrip yours.
ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)Don't bother replying, if that's all you've got.
crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)Bixby is very helpful for that. I love just telling her 'wake me up at X"
ProfessorGAC
(65,381 posts)I'm a person that sleeps lightly and doesn't need a lot of sleep. Early riser at around 4am. Have not used an alarm except when i agreed to come in at 2am to oversee and experimental run. By coincidence, i got up to go the bathroom at 10 until 2 and still didn't need it!
Go figure i don't internalize that convenience. But for folks who aren't "morning people", i guess that would be pretty nice.
FSogol
(45,582 posts)Ilsa
(61,712 posts)It is possible your online stuff can be easily hacked.
Anyone who dropped in on our household would easily die of boredom. Nothing here to hear. Move along.
Javaman
(62,534 posts)I either unplug it or mute it when we're not using it.
Ilsa
(61,712 posts)It's been a useful intercom and phone system, great for scheduling, etc. We use the most restrictive settings, just in case.
WillowTree
(5,325 posts).......all of these "tell me my ancestry" DNA tests. Can't fathom why people are just giving their DNA away for others to use for God only knows what purposes.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Fortunately for me, I have a unique name, and so nobody has to wonder if they're hunting Facebook for the "right" me. That means I put a bare minimum of information on my page (high school, college and the city I'm living in now). I don't put my birthday on there, I don't give them a telephone number, I don't put any more information on Facebook than I absolutely want to. I don't take those "What kind of cat are you" surveys because I know they're harvesting data from that.
But folks younger than two score years have been conditioned for decades to give up personal information in exchange for the reward of 10% off at a favorite store. It's no wonder that after all this time, their hymn is "Take my life and let it be a marketing port for all to see."