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One step at a time. I know multiple people who use voice assistants like Alexa that are effectively wiretapping their house. When asked how they feel comfortab

by cthor 6y ago

One step at a time. I know multiple people who use voice assistants like Alexa that are effectively wiretapping their house. When asked how they feel comfortable with that, they say, "Well, my phone's already compromised anyway..." I think people do care about privacy, but right now they just don't see any practical way to make it happen. The root of it all is the smartphone itself, because "Don't use a smartphone" is not a serious option.

meowface 6y ago
Using a voice assistant like Alexa isn't like wiretapping your home. It's introducing a powerful vector and risk for easily wiretapping your home, to be sure, but your phone is a vector for wiretapping your room (and your vicinity wherever you go), as is your laptop or desktop if they have microphones that aren't hardware disabled, as is your smart TV or remote if you have one. It's not effectively wiretapping your home, it's effectively making your home wiretappable, which isn't great but isn't the same thing. It's all about the risk profile you're willing to accept. I personally have much more private information accessible through my phone, computer, and certain cloud accounts than I do from things I'm saying in my home, and I believe a malicious actor (potentially including a large corporation like Amazon or Google) would have a much easier time and/or would be much more likely to engage in tapping one of those sources than a voice assistant in my home. It's certainly very possible - there was a recent story about how a malicious Alexa skill, if downloaded and installed, could siphon your entire voice history - but those sorts of risks also exist for almost any internet-connected device you own. So, in my opinion and going by my own risk profile, those people responding "my phone's already compromised" are behaving rationally.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  "Using a voice assistant like Alexa isn't like wiretapping your home." True. Wire tapping implies it only listens to you during an active "call" to Alexa. Alexa is more like a bugging device.
  - meowface 6y ago
    By wiretapping, I mean bugging.
- sandgiant 6y ago
  It may be true, but I wouldn't say it's evidence for most people behaving rationally. That assumes that everyone does a thorough risk assessment before buying any "smart" device for their home. I highly doubt that's the case. I put the statement "my phone's already compromised" in the same category as "I don't have anything to hide". Those may very well be common natural behaviors, but I wouldn't call them rational exactly.

by cthor 6y ago

meowface 6y ago

Using a voice assistant like Alexa isn't like wiretapping your home. It's introducing a powerful vector and risk for easily wiretapping your home, to be sure, but your phone is a vector for wiretapping your room (and your vicinity wherever you go), as is your laptop or desktop if they have microphones that aren't hardware disabled, as is your smart TV or remote if you have one. It's not effectively wiretapping your home, it's effectively making your home wiretappable, which isn't great but isn't the same thing. It's all about the risk profile you're willing to accept. I personally have much more private information accessible through my phone, computer, and certain cloud accounts than I do from things I'm saying in my home, and I believe a malicious actor (potentially including a large corporation like Amazon or Google) would have a much easier time and/or would be much more likely to engage in tapping one of those sources than a voice assistant in my home. It's certainly very possible - there was a recent story about how a malicious Alexa skill, if downloaded and installed, could siphon your entire voice history - but those sorts of risks also exist for almost any internet-connected device you own. So, in my opinion and going by my own risk profile, those people responding "my phone's already compromised" are behaving rationally.

rightbyte 6y ago
"Using a voice assistant like Alexa isn't like wiretapping your home." True. Wire tapping implies it only listens to you during an active "call" to Alexa. Alexa is more like a bugging device.
- meowface 6y ago
  By wiretapping, I mean bugging.
sandgiant 6y ago
It may be true, but I wouldn't say it's evidence for most people behaving rationally. That assumes that everyone does a thorough risk assessment before buying any "smart" device for their home. I highly doubt that's the case. I put the statement "my phone's already compromised" in the same category as "I don't have anything to hide". Those may very well be common natural behaviors, but I wouldn't call them rational exactly.