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I don’t think Bezos = Sauron... but this is just wrong: This is absurd. When Bezos becomes the dark lord you imagine, just unplug your Echo and throw it away.

I don’t think Bezos = Sauron... but this is just wrong: This is absurd. When Bezos becomes the dark lord you imagine, just unplug your Echo and throw it away. Problem solved. How much data will have been collected and stored by then? Let’s just put Bezos aside for a moment, and think about foreign and domestic intelligence orgs which will get their fingers into this. Let’s remember a bit of WWII, when harmless census data empowered the Nazis to track down people with Jewish ancestry. It’s not about what you think Bezos or today’s govt will do with the information, but what the corporate raiders and govts will do with it for the rest of your life.

dpark 9y ago
> How much data will have been collected and stored by then? It doesn’t matter. If the concern is that Bezos will flip the echo to be a political surveillance device, there is an immediate fix. Yes, the existing cache of data may still be around, but that wasn’t the concern posed by the original poster. The concern was specifically that after Bezos becomes the dark lord, an “innocent” question could result in politically motivated murder. If your concern with the echo is that you don’t want anything recording anything in your house, that is reasonable and you should not get an echo. Of course, you should probably also not carry a phone. > Let’s remember a bit of WWII, when harmless census data empowered the Nazis to track down people with Jewish ancestry. And yet we still do the census because the value is high and the concern low. The fact that a thing can be abused does not mean it should not be used.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  It doesn’t matter. If the concern is that Bezos will flip the echo to be a political surveillance device, there is an immediate fix. Yes, the existing cache of data may still be around, but that wasn’t the concern posed by the original poster. Well it’s my concern, and I suspect others have it too. I’m not trying to weigh in on the side of “Bezos is evil” by any means, I’m just adding a dimension that seemed to be neglected.
  - dpark 9y ago
    I totally understand that. It’s just not really the scenario proposed. Personally I’m not very concerned about the Echo, which is why I own it. But I do understand the reasonable concern that records could be subpoenaed or the data feed could be tapped.

dpark 9y ago

> How much data will have been collected and stored by then? It doesn’t matter. If the concern is that Bezos will flip the echo to be a political surveillance device, there is an immediate fix. Yes, the existing cache of data may still be around, but that wasn’t the concern posed by the original poster. The concern was specifically that after Bezos becomes the dark lord, an “innocent” question could result in politically motivated murder. If your concern with the echo is that you don’t want anything recording anything in your house, that is reasonable and you should not get an echo. Of course, you should probably also not carry a phone. > Let’s remember a bit of WWII, when harmless census data empowered the Nazis to track down people with Jewish ancestry. And yet we still do the census because the value is high and the concern low. The fact that a thing can be abused does not mean it should not be used.

IntronExon 9y ago
It doesn’t matter. If the concern is that Bezos will flip the echo to be a political surveillance device, there is an immediate fix. Yes, the existing cache of data may still be around, but that wasn’t the concern posed by the original poster. Well it’s my concern, and I suspect others have it too. I’m not trying to weigh in on the side of “Bezos is evil” by any means, I’m just adding a dimension that seemed to be neglected.
- dpark 9y ago
  I totally understand that. It’s just not really the scenario proposed. Personally I’m not very concerned about the Echo, which is why I own it. But I do understand the reasonable concern that records could be subpoenaed or the data feed could be tapped.