this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
62 points (97.0% liked)
Privacy
32442 readers
796 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Alexa devices aren't great for privacy, but they're not nearly as bad as people like to think. They're surely not as bad as your phone, especially if you're not installing a bunch of skills.
They don't send any data out unless they're activated with the wake word. Alternatively, that means everything you say after that wake word is being recorded and sent to Amazon and who knows who else after that. By far the biggest privacy concern with them is when they mistakenly hear the wake word, and start sending data out without you realizing it. If this is a concern to you, I'd suggest leaving it unplugged when you don't plan on using it, or plugging it into a "smart outlet". Get a reputable one because that brings its own set of security and privacy concerns, or get one of the RF ones that turn on/off with a remote.
@Morse depends on your threat model. nation states surely have alexa zero days to easily hot mic a house.
@Morse (and under FISA a 702 they don’t even need a zero day, the NSA can just compel Amazon’s covert facilitation).
Neither of those concerns are exclusive to an Alexa device though. They'd apply to any communication device (phone, tablet, computer, laptop, or any other smart/connected device).