I don't have any particular reason to think the above is incorrect, let alone deliberately false or misleading. You sound more knowledgeable about the device th

I don't have any particular reason to think the above is incorrect, let alone deliberately false or misleading. You sound more knowledgeable about the device than me. But I think you're tremendously overstating your certainty to contrast with people you're calling paranoid. If lives depended on it, are you that sure you fully understand how things work? Are you that sure of the contrast you point out between Alexa and a smartphone? I'm not questioning your opinions and facts; I'm urging you to examine your own feelings and motivations, which obviously only you can. When people attack doubts in others as paranoia, well, it might be accurate. But strong emotions and especially anger on the subject tend to suggest the underlying issue is suppressing one's own doubts. The general attitude of "we know how it works" always makes me think of the quote "Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow" and OpenSSL. My rule of thumb is, if something is technically feasible, if it's not possible to casually detect it, and there are likely no immediate, directly applied penalties for it, then it's unwise to bet against it. Something I see people assert to comfort themselves is that companies care about reputation and therefore wouldn't do some thing. I think you have to have blinkers on and somehow repress all your experience working for corporations or consuming products made by them to think that way.