The article is talking about patents filed that may or may not ever end up in products, not current technology. But any wider use of audio processing to listen

The article is talking about patents filed that may or may not ever end up in products, not current technology. But any wider use of audio processing to listen for keywords besides the wake word apply equally well to a cell phone. So again, the cell phone is at least as big a concern as an Echo, if not bigger since many people are rarely outside of arms-reach of their phone.