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Amazon does have devices listening in every home. Is the concern here that hiring Keith Alexander would make it easier for government to get people's conversati

Amazon does have devices listening in every home. Is the concern here that hiring Keith Alexander would make it easier for government to get people's conversation data?

tasogare 6y ago
> Amazon does have devices listening in every home. No, they don’t. It’s a choice people make, and most aren’t buying Kindle, Echo or other near useless spying device like that.
- person3 6y ago
  Not true, a simple Google search reveals [1 in 4 US adults have a smart speaker](https://marketingland.com/roughly-1-in-4-u-s-adults-now-owns-a-smart-speaker-according-to-new-report-273994 https://marketingland.com/roughly-1-in-4-u-s-adults-now-owns...). It _is_ a choice people make, and most don't care about privacy. Not that it matters though - phones are [already a vector](https://www.wired.com/2014/06/nsa-bug-iphone/ https://www.wired.com/2014/06/nsa-bug-iphone/) for the government to listen to you. I'm not sure this news really changes anything - the government already works with large US companies to spy on people, and then makes sure they're not allowed to disclose it to the public. Also, I think Kindle is a great product, and wouldn't consider it a useless spying device. Each to their own though.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Well, the majority still aren't buying. The initial assertion was "in every home", which is false in the majority of homes.
    - person3 6y ago
      That's correct. I just think saying "most aren't buying" gives the impression that it's not popular, when in fact it is a pretty widespread product. Not to mention Alexa being added into tons of other products such as smart thermostats, home theater speakers, etc. The number is only growing.
    - vageli 6y ago
      > Well, the majority still aren't buying. The initial assertion was "in every home", which is false in the majority of homes. Are we assuming that all the individuals who purchased the devices live completely alone? There are only 128 million households in the US. [0] [0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-households-in-the-us https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-househo...
      - mahkeiro 6y ago
        You cannot imply this, the stats is about US adult, many adult may also have the same speaker in their household.
        vageli 6y ago
        This is precisely the point I was trying to make.
- 1MoreThing 6y ago
  This is why I keep one of each in my home. By having an Echo, Google Assistant, and an iPhone, I figure I'm able to give everyone access to my data, making it worth less. (</s>)
  - lmedinas 6y ago
    Imagine with so much data, US still has so many problems and don't have "Minority report" yet... go figure... sarcasm.
- coronadisaster 6y ago
  Amazon tablets are pretty cheap... I bet many, including myself for the kids, chose them.
throwawaynothx 6y ago
"in every home." - only morons homes.
schoen 6y ago
I think I'd be more worried that he might discourage investments that could help Amazon better protect its foreign customers against U.S. and partners' espionage efforts. Or perhaps affect Amazon's procurement with non-transparent motives. Suppose these is a certain microarchitectural vulnerability in one vendor's hardware but not another's. If Amazon could be induced to buy the vulnerable hardware over the non-vulnerable hardware, that could help people who knew about the vulnerability spy on AWS customers. Or if there were a company to be rewarded or punished for its decision to cooperate or not to cooperate with some covert activity, the reward or punishment could be done through procurement decisions. Or perhaps affect Amazon's lobbying at home or abroad about privacy legislation or something. (It's not obvious to me whether the danger is particularly greater from a former DIRNSA than from someone with undisclosed connections to a spy agency. Maybe Alexander's recommendations would get extra scrutiny!)

Amazon does have devices listening in every home. Is the concern here that hiring Keith Alexander would make it easier for government to get people's conversation data?

tasogare 6y ago

> Amazon does have devices listening in every home. No, they don’t. It’s a choice people make, and most aren’t buying Kindle, Echo or other near useless spying device like that.

person3 6y ago
Not true, a simple Google search reveals [1 in 4 US adults have a smart speaker](https://marketingland.com/roughly-1-in-4-u-s-adults-now-owns-a-smart-speaker-according-to-new-report-273994 https://marketingland.com/roughly-1-in-4-u-s-adults-now-owns...). It _is_ a choice people make, and most don't care about privacy. Not that it matters though - phones are [already a vector](https://www.wired.com/2014/06/nsa-bug-iphone/ https://www.wired.com/2014/06/nsa-bug-iphone/) for the government to listen to you. I'm not sure this news really changes anything - the government already works with large US companies to spy on people, and then makes sure they're not allowed to disclose it to the public. Also, I think Kindle is a great product, and wouldn't consider it a useless spying device. Each to their own though.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  Well, the majority still aren't buying. The initial assertion was "in every home", which is false in the majority of homes.
  - person3 6y ago
    That's correct. I just think saying "most aren't buying" gives the impression that it's not popular, when in fact it is a pretty widespread product. Not to mention Alexa being added into tons of other products such as smart thermostats, home theater speakers, etc. The number is only growing.
  - vageli 6y ago
    > Well, the majority still aren't buying. The initial assertion was "in every home", which is false in the majority of homes. Are we assuming that all the individuals who purchased the devices live completely alone? There are only 128 million households in the US. [0] [0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-households-in-the-us https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-househo...
    - mahkeiro 6y ago
      You cannot imply this, the stats is about US adult, many adult may also have the same speaker in their household.
      - vageli 6y ago
        This is precisely the point I was trying to make.
1MoreThing 6y ago
This is why I keep one of each in my home. By having an Echo, Google Assistant, and an iPhone, I figure I'm able to give everyone access to my data, making it worth less. (</s>)
- lmedinas 6y ago
  Imagine with so much data, US still has so many problems and don't have "Minority report" yet... go figure... sarcasm.
coronadisaster 6y ago
Amazon tablets are pretty cheap... I bet many, including myself for the kids, chose them.

throwawaynothx 6y ago

"in every home." - only morons homes.

schoen 6y ago

I think I'd be more worried that he might discourage investments that could help Amazon better protect its foreign customers against U.S. and partners' espionage efforts. Or perhaps affect Amazon's procurement with non-transparent motives. Suppose these is a certain microarchitectural vulnerability in one vendor's hardware but not another's. If Amazon could be induced to buy the vulnerable hardware over the non-vulnerable hardware, that could help people who knew about the vulnerability spy on AWS customers. Or if there were a company to be rewarded or punished for its decision to cooperate or not to cooperate with some covert activity, the reward or punishment could be done through procurement decisions. Or perhaps affect Amazon's lobbying at home or abroad about privacy legislation or something. (It's not obvious to me whether the danger is particularly greater from a former DIRNSA than from someone with undisclosed connections to a spy agency. Maybe Alexander's recommendations would get extra scrutiny!)