4 ms·

Amazon received a US patent to provide “surveillance as a service.”

42 points by smn1234 7y ago

jammygit 7y ago
Time to cancel my prime I guess. I really liked amazon before the news about their employees and surveillance business came out
- jasaloo 7y ago
  did the same a while back. Though it likely doesn't change much, never hurts to tell them that this is the specific reason you're leaving.
- avgDev 7y ago
  Yeah.....I used to be BIG amazon fan. On the surface amazon is amazing, easy shopping, no need to walk around the store, no need to drive, no need to talk to anyone, it saves time. HOWEVER, reviews used to be great but now you simply cannot trust anything but negative reviews. So now, I'm going back to basics when it comes to shopping for anything over $1k+, I talk to people I know. People that do not have any skin in the game. Now that I think of it, anything online cannot be trusted. For example, I am looking for a new car, all the car reviews are mostly positive. Car reviewers usually get invited to events but I'm sure if they shit on a brand they would not have access to vehicles before release. I'm looking at new Santa Fe, however, they recently got their offices raided because of the massive problems with 2.4 engine(fires, and high failure rates) and no reviewer even mentions it. So, one needs to go to forum of owners and see what they experience is like. I wish there was a different amazon, where the website actually researches the product, and offers expert + verified consumer reviews that cannot be swayed in any way. No 3rd party sellers. One can only dream.
  - EliRivers 7y ago
    Is that website not Which? https://www.which.co.uk/ https://www.which.co.uk/ ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F ) Although they are UK based, so not so useful to you. Maybe there's a US analogue. Plus, of course, they maintain their independence by not taking bungs from the manufacturers or allowing advertising, which means they sell their information rather than give it away. But then, if you want them to be independent, what other source of income could they have?
jasaloo 7y ago
"Meanwhile, Amazon’s Echo and voice-assisted personal assistant, Alexa, was in an estimated 24% of US households as of the fourth quarter of 2018..." Well that's unnerving.
- deleted 7y ago
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netwanderer3 7y ago
I'm guessing surveillance will soon turn privacy into a cash cow industry. We will see companies providing "privacy as a service" coming up. The constant cat and mouse games could enable unlimited exponential growths. Security firms will be absolutely everywhere and even small businesses would have their own dedicated "security & privacy department".
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paladinxx 7y ago
Up next, "Amazon 'Served' as a service": Using Echo/Blink/Ring, Amazon determine when you are home then use Key to enter your home and serve you legal papers, recording the entire interaction to the cloud for access by the courts.

42 points by smn1234 7y ago

Time to cancel my prime I guess. I really liked amazon before the news about their employees and surveillance business came out

jasaloo 7y ago
did the same a while back. Though it likely doesn't change much, never hurts to tell them that this is the specific reason you're leaving.
avgDev 7y ago
Yeah.....I used to be BIG amazon fan. On the surface amazon is amazing, easy shopping, no need to walk around the store, no need to drive, no need to talk to anyone, it saves time. HOWEVER, reviews used to be great but now you simply cannot trust anything but negative reviews. So now, I'm going back to basics when it comes to shopping for anything over $1k+, I talk to people I know. People that do not have any skin in the game. Now that I think of it, anything online cannot be trusted. For example, I am looking for a new car, all the car reviews are mostly positive. Car reviewers usually get invited to events but I'm sure if they shit on a brand they would not have access to vehicles before release. I'm looking at new Santa Fe, however, they recently got their offices raided because of the massive problems with 2.4 engine(fires, and high failure rates) and no reviewer even mentions it. So, one needs to go to forum of owners and see what they experience is like. I wish there was a different amazon, where the website actually researches the product, and offers expert + verified consumer reviews that cannot be swayed in any way. No 3rd party sellers. One can only dream.
- EliRivers 7y ago
  Is that website not Which? https://www.which.co.uk/ https://www.which.co.uk/ ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F ) Although they are UK based, so not so useful to you. Maybe there's a US analogue. Plus, of course, they maintain their independence by not taking bungs from the manufacturers or allowing advertising, which means they sell their information rather than give it away. But then, if you want them to be independent, what other source of income could they have?

jasaloo 7y ago

"Meanwhile, Amazon’s Echo and voice-assisted personal assistant, Alexa, was in an estimated 24% of US households as of the fourth quarter of 2018..." Well that's unnerving.

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netwanderer3 7y ago

I'm guessing surveillance will soon turn privacy into a cash cow industry. We will see companies providing "privacy as a service" coming up. The constant cat and mouse games could enable unlimited exponential growths. Security firms will be absolutely everywhere and even small businesses would have their own dedicated "security & privacy department".

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

paladinxx 7y ago

Up next, "Amazon 'Served' as a service": Using Echo/Blink/Ring, Amazon determine when you are home then use Key to enter your home and serve you legal papers, recording the entire interaction to the cloud for access by the courts.