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This is particularly the case with Amazon and its Alexa technology. Experts are coming forward and raising valid concerns about how much personal and private data the company is actually collecting on a day-to-day basis.
In fact, NBC News’ Tom Costello says that the e-commerce giant “collects more personalized, private data than any other company on the planet, rivaling Facebook, Apple, even Google.”
Costello further states that Amazon has confirmed that thousands of the company’s employees around the world listen to tapes of voice recordings captured by the Echo speaker.
But how much of this data collection and analysis can be dismissed as “market research” intended to “improve customer experience?” Where should consumers draw the line?
According to NBC, Amazon representatives say the company reviews an “extremely small number” of “randomly selected” Echo recordings to improve the way the technology interprets human language.
However, that means that it remains possible that complete strangers could be listening in on a consumer’s family discussions, financial matters and even intimate moments.
“If you want to be using user data to improve your products, that should be on an opt-in basis,” Jeremy Gillula of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told NBC, adding that “users should be able to choose whether or not you use their data to improve your products.”
Amazon representatives have also stated that it is, in fact, possible to activate the technology by mistake, causing it to record your conversations without you knowing it.
When in doubt, privacy experts say, simply unplug the technology.
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