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Mentioned this in another comment, but they can only reveal voice data IF the victim said "Alexa" when the crime was taking place. If the victim didn't say "Ale

Mentioned this in another comment, but they can only reveal voice data IF the victim said "Alexa" when the crime was taking place. If the victim didn't say "Alexa" that day, then there's nothing to reveal.

dade_ 10y ago
Or thought it heard Alexa. There were many many times when my devices recognized Hey Siri and Okay Google during regular conversation when no such thing was said. I've disabled that capability on all my devices as well.
ams6110 10y ago
What if someone else said "Alexa"? What if someone on TV or the radio said "Alexa"?
izacus 10y ago
At least in our office it happens quite commonly that Alexa will trigger on phrases that aren't the word "Alexa" and are even unrelated to it.
794CD01 10y ago
This definitely has the potential to be the "killer's name written in blood" of the 21st century.
shostack 10y ago
Is there some technical evidence that this is the case? Or is there a chance that these can be configured remotely to record everything with the right permissions without the owner knowing?
SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago
The main thing I'm taking away from this is that, if I ever find myself getting murdered, I'll just keep shouting "Alexa" as a last ditch attempt at getting justice from beyond the grave. Can't hurt.
- diminoten 10y ago
  I was thinking about this -- I'm too afraid to try it, but if I said, "Alexa call 911", does that functionality exist? Is there a skill I can install that would let me say something like, "Alexa start recording audio to the cloud"?
  - chrisfosterelli 10y ago
    "Alexa call 911" doesn't work (at least currently) and it looks like it's against Amazon's rules to try and create a skill that calls emergency services: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/alexa-skills-kit-policy-testing https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-sk...

dade_ 10y ago

Or thought it heard Alexa. There were many many times when my devices recognized Hey Siri and Okay Google during regular conversation when no such thing was said. I've disabled that capability on all my devices as well.

ams6110 10y ago

What if someone else said "Alexa"? What if someone on TV or the radio said "Alexa"?

izacus 10y ago

At least in our office it happens quite commonly that Alexa will trigger on phrases that aren't the word "Alexa" and are even unrelated to it.

794CD01 10y ago

This definitely has the potential to be the "killer's name written in blood" of the 21st century.

shostack 10y ago

Is there some technical evidence that this is the case? Or is there a chance that these can be configured remotely to record everything with the right permissions without the owner knowing?

SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago

The main thing I'm taking away from this is that, if I ever find myself getting murdered, I'll just keep shouting "Alexa" as a last ditch attempt at getting justice from beyond the grave. Can't hurt.

diminoten 10y ago
I was thinking about this -- I'm too afraid to try it, but if I said, "Alexa call 911", does that functionality exist? Is there a skill I can install that would let me say something like, "Alexa start recording audio to the cloud"?
- chrisfosterelli 10y ago
  "Alexa call 911" doesn't work (at least currently) and it looks like it's against Amazon's rules to try and create a skill that calls emergency services: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/alexa-skills-kit-policy-testing https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-sk...