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It's very different. My expectation that of my smart phone is that it's not listening unless I want it to (I don't). If I find out it is listening/recording and

It's very different. My expectation that of my smart phone is that it's not listening unless I want it to (I don't). If I find out it is listening/recording and it's configured not to then I will find an alternative. The "smart speaker", on the other hand, is 100% useless if the microphone is disabled. It also has microphones designed to hear as far away as possible given its design. Finally, the phone in your pocket and watch on your wrist likely handle the audio data very different than that speaker manufacturer. You might find it useful now, but don't discount now you'll ever find it intrusive.

BeetleB 7y ago
>My expectation that of my smart phone is that it's not listening unless I want it to (I don't). If I find out it is listening/recording and it's configured not to then I will find an alternative. >My expectation This is the key phrase here. Just as you have your expectations, Alexa/Home owners have their expectations. And if Alexa owners find out that Amazon/Google is using their inputs in ways they don't want it to, they'll drop it or find an alternative. Different people have different expectations. I was late into the whole smartphone thing, and refused to buy one for years because of the privacy leak it represents (heck, I refused to buy a dumb phone for years for the same reason). Back in those days, I would have been as unsympathetic for your rationale of owning a smartphone as you are of those owning smart speakers. Do you not see that there are different levels of comfort, and not everyone has the same level as you do? Furthermore, do you not see that on that continuum, even you have made compromises?
- zepto 7y ago
  Fair enough, and this is a great argument that the press are failing to sufficiently publicize that Amazon is collecting a repository of these private recording. Without being aware of what is going on, people can’t make these choices for themselves.
- windexh8er 7y ago
  Guess you better find alternatives: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://nos.nl/artikel/2292889-google-medewerkers-luisteren-nederlandse-gesprekken-mee.html&xid=17259,1500004,15700022,15700043,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262&usg=ALkJrhhComqKPdEmwe0DXtuhWXimIP_Wtg https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&...
wvenable 7y ago
A smart speaker has a tiny CPU designed to listen for the wake word and doesn't even fully power up until that is heard. Sure it's voice but it's the voice equivalent of pressing a record button.
- pjc50 7y ago
  These are also available in some phones, as provided by my employer: https://statics.cirrus.com/pubs/proBulletin/CS47L35_201507.pdf https://statics.cirrus.com/pubs/proBulletin/CS47L35_201507.p...
rando444 7y ago
Your phone microphone can be enabled remotely and the means to do so can be controlled through the baseband processor. The Snowden leaks revealed that this had been an attack vector available and used for years. The method they were using has since been patched, but one would be foolish to think that it has been impossible for interested parties to have found another way to do the same.
- windexh8er 7y ago
  I don't think my point was well understood based on your counterargument. What I'm saying is the expectation of a smart phone is that voice assistance is an option. That was my point to OP. Smart speakers are useless sans listening. They are not one and the same in their use case or normal operation. I'm also not disputing there are baseband controls a nefarious entity could abuse but I'm saying that people who choose to trust Amazon with always listening devices vs a smart phone are not comparing apples to apples.

BeetleB 7y ago

>My expectation that of my smart phone is that it's not listening unless I want it to (I don't). If I find out it is listening/recording and it's configured not to then I will find an alternative. >My expectation This is the key phrase here. Just as you have your expectations, Alexa/Home owners have their expectations. And if Alexa owners find out that Amazon/Google is using their inputs in ways they don't want it to, they'll drop it or find an alternative. Different people have different expectations. I was late into the whole smartphone thing, and refused to buy one for years because of the privacy leak it represents (heck, I refused to buy a dumb phone for years for the same reason). Back in those days, I would have been as unsympathetic for your rationale of owning a smartphone as you are of those owning smart speakers. Do you not see that there are different levels of comfort, and not everyone has the same level as you do? Furthermore, do you not see that on that continuum, even you have made compromises?

zepto 7y ago
Fair enough, and this is a great argument that the press are failing to sufficiently publicize that Amazon is collecting a repository of these private recording. Without being aware of what is going on, people can’t make these choices for themselves.
windexh8er 7y ago
Guess you better find alternatives: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://nos.nl/artikel/2292889-google-medewerkers-luisteren-nederlandse-gesprekken-mee.html&xid=17259,1500004,15700022,15700043,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262&usg=ALkJrhhComqKPdEmwe0DXtuhWXimIP_Wtg https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&...

wvenable 7y ago

A smart speaker has a tiny CPU designed to listen for the wake word and doesn't even fully power up until that is heard. Sure it's voice but it's the voice equivalent of pressing a record button.

pjc50 7y ago
These are also available in some phones, as provided by my employer: https://statics.cirrus.com/pubs/proBulletin/CS47L35_201507.pdf https://statics.cirrus.com/pubs/proBulletin/CS47L35_201507.p...

rando444 7y ago

Your phone microphone can be enabled remotely and the means to do so can be controlled through the baseband processor. The Snowden leaks revealed that this had been an attack vector available and used for years. The method they were using has since been patched, but one would be foolish to think that it has been impossible for interested parties to have found another way to do the same.

windexh8er 7y ago
I don't think my point was well understood based on your counterargument. What I'm saying is the expectation of a smart phone is that voice assistance is an option. That was my point to OP. Smart speakers are useless sans listening. They are not one and the same in their use case or normal operation. I'm also not disputing there are baseband controls a nefarious entity could abuse but I'm saying that people who choose to trust Amazon with always listening devices vs a smart phone are not comparing apples to apples.