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1. Sean O'Brien (diggity)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 01:00:04 UTC Sean O'Brien

   fresh off the press - this is why I don't like to give the "benefit of the doubt" to Big Tech, even though I will limit my comments to the available info:
   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/is-anyone-listening-to-you-on-alexa-a-global-team-reviews-audio

   • Mike Gerwitz repeated this.
   • Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 01:33:49 UTC Mike Gerwitz

     in reply to
     @diggity While this practice is expected (as the article notes, other companies do it as well), most users are definitely not aware of it and I think that many more people would be uncomfortable using these devices if they did learn that this isn't all just being processed by computers. Some of that conversation happened during the Snowden revelations---is it okay if it's just computers "listening" rather than a human being? (Of course, it's never just computers.)
     
     It's also another example of AI capabilities being over-sold to users.
     
     Thanks for sharing!
     😸 (｡◕‿‿◕｡), Yale Privacy Lab and Sean O'Brien and 2 others like this.
   • Sean O'Brien (diggity)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 05:20:04 UTC Sean O'Brien

     in reply to

     • Mike Gerwitz

     @mikegerwitz Right, this will definitely strike a nerve with the public because it's real people listening. Traditionally, keyword analysis of speech is expensive (money and storage, processing power) but this cost can be driven down by cheap labor and AI/ML techniques.

     But this is the #1 audience comment and reason that journalists contact me - that they suspect conversations are being recorded and analyzed for their content.

     When asked, I walk through other surveillance scenarios... 1/3

   • Sean O'Brien (diggity)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 05:25:41 UTC Sean O'Brien

     in reply to

     • Mike Gerwitz

     @mikegerwitz ...with the person who suspects their conversations are being analyzed for their content. Humans underestimate the power of metadata, social graphs, "traditional" analytics, and behavioral profiling. Why analyze the content of messages/speech when it's a PR nightmare and potential legal liability?

     However, the FTC complaint in 2015 against Samsung and FTC warning in 2016 re: Silverpush are the only other legal/regulatory pressure I know besides a pending bill in Illinois... 2/3

   • Sean O'Brien (diggity)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 05:35:27 UTC Sean O'Brien

     in reply to

     • Mike Gerwitz
     • Yale Privacy Lab

     @mikegerwitz ...called "Keep Internet Devices Safe Act" (SB1719). Amazon and Google are opposing it with the attached talking points (via https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1115991653662195713).

     I know of two other cases like this Alexa example that made press. Samsung SmartTV in 2015 w/ help from Nuance Comms (now a partner for Apple's Siri), and "My Friend Cayla" dolls in 2017 (again w/ Nuance).

     At @privacylab we think we've found an example of speech broken into syllables and disguised as a nUHF signal. Stay tuned. 3/3

     Mike Gerwitz likes this.
   • Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz)'s status on Thursday, 11-Apr-2019 17:03:40 UTC Mike Gerwitz

     in reply to

     • Yale Privacy Lab
     @diggity There's a lot of good stuff your replies---thank you for all of the work that you and the others at @privacylab do! I will certainly stay tuned.
     Sean O'Brien likes this.