I swear that if my Alexa goes off in the night and makes some creepy laugh that there will be one dead echo and a hole in my wall!! I watch too much Ghost Hunters and just wonder when they will start reacting to EVP's!!
We were born without Alexa and Siri yet people act like these things are a necessity. I am PERSONALLY UNCOMFORTABLE with these 3rd party devices recording all my personal conversations.
😂 They'll get bored to f### listening to mine, I live on my own and haven't started talking to myself yet... plus, I only use it to ask the time or use it to time my pizza! ... I suppose I might get adverts for clocks and watches! 🤔😀😂
Annette Melnychuk Yep, no always listening Alexa for me, if a company does something like have a commercial where they lie about something like it “not being able to hear you unless you say a word” then I’d rather want to do nothing with the product
Lmao, you trust Google with your privacy, that is an oxymoron. I don't trust any of these companys with my privacy regardless of how they SAY they handle it ... You either accept the risk or choose to go with out. To say you chose one over the other because of privacy concerns is suspect at best. As far as the second reason you chose to switch ... never really had an issue with my Echo understanding me on a daily basis. And as far as features you described that you get with the G Home Hub, yea its called an Echo Show ... seemed like bias advertisement to me, lol, jk. Either way, good video Matt!
While I agree with you to some degree, I wouldn't say that Google can't be trusted in some ways. Google doesn't have a lot in terms of privacy, but they have a lot in protection (you can also see all the data they collect and choose to share/remove a lot of it). I hope that soon data privacy and data security/protection stop being referred to by the same names. It just causes even more confusion. I don't expect Google to keep all of my data private. I am using services at the cost of data. I do expect them to keep that data protected, however. This has been Amazon's issue.
I’m starting to think I didn’t do a good enough job conveying my concern in the video (this isn’t the first comment bringing this up). It has nothing to do with Amazon, Google, or Apple listening or collecting this data. Or the fact they have human reviewers that check some of the recordings for accuracy to train the system. It’s the procedures the company has in place to protect our data and anonymize it. Employees within the company shouldn’t be able to trace any recording back to the source, but Amazon has some flaws in their system that allow that to happen. Google and Apple are doing a much better job on this front to anonymize the data.
Nicholas, you nailed it. It’s how the company is handling the data they’re collecting. Not that they’re collecting that data in the first place I’m taking issue with.
@@UndecidedMF I personally tend to trust Google more than anyone else on data security since their biggest asset is keeping it secret. Companies can only sell data once, while Google can sell the use of data forever. Yes Google knows a lot (it's fun to look at myActivity sometimes), but I don't worry much about it getting outside of Google. They built a business on data collection and security, so if they fail I give up.
Excellent video Matt! I agree completely and recently broke up with my Alexa devices too. They are the only devices I did not re-connect to my network after recently getting my new router set up. This is an important topic and I appreciate anyone who speaks about it. Thanks for a great analysis and for making this video.
Thanks, Shane! Keeping your smart home focused on Apple as your backbone is a smart move. They’re one of the few big companies keeping things really locked down to benefit the user.
Same here! When I moved across the country I did not rehook up my Alexa devices.. I have been thinking about getting a Homepod Mini because Apple is having Siri do a lot more offline but unfortunately Siri just sucks compared to the others :/ Siri won't even control Phillips Hue scenes at all. You have to add scenes specifically to HomeKit, and when I add a scene from Hue it seems to always like revert back to a previously saved scene or some BS.. Both Alexa and Google Home I can say "turn on [hue scene]" and it's instantly recognized.. Well with Alexa I have to import scenes from Hue, but it's a one click process and works flawlessly. Siri's "workaround" doesn't even work at all.. And the other problem with Homepod is that you can't play Spotify or anything other than Apple Music, spatial audio only works with Apple apps, and you can't even use two of them as a stereo pair for your Mac audio output device.. Soo frustratingly stupid :/ I honestly think unless Apple does more than increase privacy Siri HomePod mini is going to go the way of HomePod.
Love it! I've been wary of privacy concerns for awhile, but honestly, I'm also tired of our Alexa's false wakings, disconnects, and other stuff. Haven't had disconnect issues with our Homepod. I feel more comfortable with Apple's privacy, of the three. I'm not too tin-hatty, but I am not a fan of google for a number of reasons; I wish Google assistant wasn't so far ahead. :) Anyways, thanks again. Great video.
Not tin-hatty at all. There are aspects of Google that I’m not a fan of either and make me a little uneasy, but I’ve got to give them props when it comes to Google Assistant. Apple’s catching up though.
@@UndecidedMF no matter how you look at it. Apple will NEVER catch up, unless Apple opens up Siri on the backend or server side. To this day iOS developers still cannot make voice apps for Apple's one and only smart speaker. Oh, and Siri shortcuts is definitely NOT a SiriKit voice app.
Great video Matt. My wife wouldn't let me get an alexa because she didn't want 'the man' listening in on our house, lol. When i got one free with another order on black friday I had to keep it in the office only. Then she came in one day and was enjoying the music from it. Now it sits on the kitchen counter however she normally mutes it unless she's cooking or listening to music, lol. I can't say I blame her now that I've seen your results. EDIT: hopefully this gets to Amazon somehow to review their privacy policies around alexa.
Thanks! I don’t blame her, or anyone really, for that view on these devices. They can be creepy. I hope and think Amazon will eventually get things pulled together, but the way things are right now ... it’s troubling.
Excellent coverage of some important aspects of voice assistant data privacy. Hopefully this will encourage the industry to trend towards transparency and personal ownership of user data.
The Amazon products have always worked better for me. I spent a year with Echo Dot/ Google Home Mini combinations in four different locations in my home and Alexa won hands down when it came to both voice control of smart devices and playing requested music. Google seemed to "know" a bit more when questioned but it appears to me as though the gap in knowledge between the two is narrowing. I really don't care about who might hear me say "Alexa, good morning" or "Alexa, good night" a thousand times to run daily routines. And, I have made a habit of deleting all my recordings on a fairly regular basis. Now, if I can just keep myself from saying "Alexa, my Social Security number is ###-##-####," I think I'll be okay.
Good point..not sure if I'll use Alexa for the lightening but for sure I'll like reminder or to create To-Do lists...to set a reminder or delete it will be 5 times faster than with my apps notes on my phone
Exactly. I'm only using mine in my studio for work purposes too. I don't think I've ever said personal info out loud anyway lol. People think the government cares about what you're having for dinner
It’s not that the systems are listening and getting reviewed by humans. The issue is that Amazon is not properly anonymizing our data and employees can tie recordings back to a user account and location. Both Google and Apple are doing a better job with that. Amazon needs to step up their game.
@@UndecidedMF ... In reality you don't know what Google and Apple (or anyone else) are really doing, so it's a mute point. It doesn't matter what x company says, you will never really know. So you either accept this is the case and continue to use these types of devices or you don't. If you believe what companies tell you then you are somewhat naive. Also Google are being somewhat shitty when it comes to them removing nest compatibility with other devices so it's not like Google home is the best way to go currently.
Wait till you set up Phillips Hue routines in Google home then have Google break connection with Hue like what happened on May 17th, second time in a year and all your routines don't work anymore. Good luck, your going to need it.
I ditched Facebook after years of using their platform due to their business practices. If Amazon decides to not get its shit together Alexa may be next. I must point out as well that I also break up with any subsidiary companies that they may own as well, when I do decide to burn a bridge.
I left FB 3 weekends ago and I don't miss it at all. I do plan on logging in to do a once over type thing to see if any of the videos or pictures of my husband and I are able to be downloaded. The new "M" word is not our friend. In regards to the "A" word and the topic of this video, smh they replaced and refunded me so much that each device is now... *free* aka no cost, how does that work? Definitely makes me wonder|think, why do they want us to have these so badly?🤔 The "E" word, I unplugged long ago, not sure what the point is. Since I don't listen to music on it. And the others with screens, the sole purpose of buying *one* was per the recommendation of 💍 so I'd be able to see my driveway faster. I put the emphasis on 1 because that's the only one I bought, but they replaced it, let me keep the "defective" one then sent me another new one. Then that one started having the same issues. So I was refunded and told to keep it. So now I have 2 and they replaced with another one. So now I have 3...on the house. But hey, I know they're listening, so I talk about what I need them to hear 👂 like *let me check Walmart for this one, they always have great prices and they always ship out the same day!* I'll also pretend that I'm having a conversation on the phone with a friend about "A" and why they take so long to ship my order, "that's crazy Sis!" My orders now ship within a couple of days. I'm not a "prime rib" customer. Lastly, I had to click a TOS before commenting here. The internet is too much.
I switched from Echo's to HomePods whenever the HomePod originally released (just made sense given that I was already pretty invested in Apple's ecosystem). I do appreciate Apple's commitment to user privacy relative to many other companies but more than that, my HomePod does a much better job of hearing its wake word when it's playing music (even at loud volumes) and I REALLY appreciate not having to scream at it to get its attention. It's a huge plus.
I have never seen a compelling reason to own any of these products. I've used them at other people's houses and once on my phone when it was initially set up (disabled shortly thereafter). It's a mildly amusing novelty at best for about 10 minutes and then just another unnecessary and profligate bauble. I'm mainly just impressed with the underlying voice recognition technology that's recently been solved with deep learning. 20 years ago it seemed an utterly intractable problem requiring huge computational power and delivering invariably abysmal accuracy. Now, it's become so unbelievably accurate I turn it on in youtube sometimes when *I* can't tell what's being said and it frequently helps accurately fill in gaps I can't even discern. Now if only they could do something about the still very atrocious state of language translation.
"Now if only they could do something about the still very atrocious state of language translation." Unfortunately the properly labelled data-sets available for translation are more limited than Natural Language Processing. This problem will likely see headway as advances are made in unsupervised learning.
It’s not for everyone, but it also depends on how you have voice assistants set up. In a smart home setting it can be extremely useful and more than a bauble, especially for people with disabilities. 9 times out of 10 though, I see them in friends and families homes set up in a very surface level way.
I bought an Echo myself when I bought one for my 96-year-old father, even though I had serious privacy concerns. Turned out, he hated his, and I didn't feel that mine did enough that was useful to justify the risks, so I gave it away--but not before writing a review in which I called it, not a "bauble," but a "novelty item." Within 10 minutes of posting the review, I had a phone call from an Amazon representative offering immediate tech support because, of course, there could be no reason for diverging from the general acclamation of the Echo except my incompetence. That they were watching the customer reviews so carefully on this item didn't do much to allay my privacy concerns.
I am saddened by the apparent compulsion to use and trust these devices - is it laziness? Gullibility? Is your life really better because of the money spent on these technologies? I hear so many complaints - it is clearly common for them to misunderstand and frustrate users, and now scary that they are harvesting data, so much is now known about YOU. I get along just fine with no smart device, no wi-fi, no wired home, no doorbell cameras, no microphones, just the internet; and I get news and read articles and continue learning EVERY DAY. I am not a slave to modern gadgets, and I shake my head thinking about the money people spend monthly for these things! Oh, if I had a penny each month for each 'smartphone' just from the people in my county, I'd be very very rich! It's no wonder the phone companies push plans with four phones - it is SO PROFITABLE it's criminal.
Please explain to my why they need any samples of what we say???? what to make the system more accurate?? thats a total lie, after a few billion examples they already have I seriously doubt any more samples will improve anything.
"And this conversation is being recorded for quality assurance", my a**!!!!!!! I turn everything off that I'm aware capable of turning off. Just in case I use a dumb phone and keep a sound machine with running water sound going 24/7 next to my laptop. I don't know if that works, but you know from the old spy movies to stifle phone recordings.
Thanks! I really wish true Siri support would come to third party speakers like Sonos, but something tells me hell will freeze over first. Hopefully Apple expands the Homepod lineup to include something like a Homepod Mini.
@@UndecidedMF your not going to see a HomePod mini, especially if your expectation is lower prices for a HomePod mini. Remember Apple's Siri requires the use of hardware that runs a flavor of Apple's iOS. It's why you see Apples current HomePod use their A8 Soc with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. That requirement alone means you will NEVER see prices close to a Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo Dot. That also means if Apple were to try and cut costs down for a cheaper HomePod, then they would have to cut the costs down on the sound quality, but that would compromise Apple and their great sound from their HomePod. This is why I believe Apple partnered with Amazon, and place their Apple music on Amazon Echo devices, because Apple cannot get the prices down far enough to make a true mini or dot versions.
Sean Godsell the A8 is a few generations old now..so it could be possible to use an older chip if it won’t take much to power Siri that should keep cost down
I agree, Brian. They don’t have to put the latest and greatest in there to still have a fully functional lower-end speaker. But I also don’t think they have to go down as low as a $30 - $50 speaker. I don’t think that’s where Apple wants to compete. If they did make a Homepod Mini, I could see it being around the $100 - $150 price point (half the cost of the big brother).
@@UndecidedMFLet's say Apple makes a HomePod mini to sell at the prices that you stated. It's definitely not going to have the great sound like it's bigger brother. So then it's a Siri smart speaker, and don't forget Apple still doesn't allow it's developers to make Siri apps for its original HomePod, nevermind this new so call cheaper HomePod. At $100-$150 is still way to much for a Siri smart speaker, especially since it's still far behind the competition in terms of functionality, options, and compatibility.
I don't want any of them in my house but I completely agree that Google is the best with voice. I use it in my car with AA and it is excellent. Natural language is almost always spot on for knowing what I am after. The only thing I wish for was that AA would support more kinds of queries so that random trivia questions can be answered.
I’ve been cutting Amazon some slack to see if they’d make improvements. Instead more and more stories kept coming out. It’s a shame. I really hope they get things cleaned up.
I was using an Amazon Echo dot and haven’t used it in moths. There is a lot of risk of using it. The big problem with these companies is that they need to encrypt the data and make the input completely anonymous regardless.
I can't imagine our family having much that the security agency's want . Who knows who's listening in or reading what you write or watching what your seeing . It's the modern world !
I pity anyone who has to listen to or read all of these audio snippets. It’s got to be incredibly mind numbing work ... and boring content for the most part. Our conversations are no Tom Clancy novel, but if you want to overhear my wife and I talking about some random Netflix TV show ... we’re where it’s at.
Great video. I used to have 7 Amazon echos in my home but I am now down to just 1 and it is in my garage. Inside of my house I am now 100% Apple products as I trust Siri a LOT more than Google or Amazon (and you couldn't pay me enough to put a Facebook Portal in my home).
@@jayyou1887 Hi Jay, I also have the Ring Doorbell, a Ring Floodlight Cam, and 2 outside Blink cameras (that I bought before they were purchased by Amazon). They all work with Alexa but at least the versions of them I purchased about 2 years ago, they didn't have Alexa built in. I also have a Nest thermostat that I bought from Nest before Nest was purchased by Google. Over the next few months, I am planning to replace these devices with devices that are Homekit compatible and cameras that will use Apple's encrypted iCloud storage.
@@businessreform I wish I knew Apple could save my recordings on iCloud. I went to Geek Squad to set up my Ring home security. I hope the 2 motion camera's can be shut off to not have me on them. Wish I could turn them off on my apple iPhone.
@@businessreform You are more knowledgeable than I am. I just decided to stick with the Ring doorbell, two chimes, and two doorbells. Someday I hope to find a flood/water sensor that works with my iPhone when I'm not home or even when I am home to let me know there is a leak. My neighbor had a leak a few days ago (her second) and if her friend didn't happen to check in the boiler room on the balcony it would have flooded downstairs a second time. I now have 2.4 GHz. If I can find something that is not impossible to open the battery compartment I will try it. To bad Alexa can't tell me about a water leak or flood on my iPhone, at least I don't think it can. All these devices and gadgets get so expensive.
I suspected that much about Amazon, although i never researched about their policies and how they enforced them. But i researched Google and that's why i use their voice recognition devices. Good video. Keep up with the good work.
Thanks! I’m pretty happy with Google’s policies and procedures around the Google Home devices. Same for Apple with Siri. Amazon though is really dropping the ball. They need to raise the bar, especially considering that they’re the market leader for smart speakers.
I actually had an Echo on nearby when I watched the rough cut to make it sure it wouldn’t trigger anyone’s devices. I only bleeped the ones that seemed to trigger it.
We’ll have to disagree on that. But I’m not using it anymore for personal use. I’ve unplugged all of my Echos. And I’ll be switching my Sonos speakers over to Google Assistant as soon as it’s available. But I am still keeping an Echo handy for testing purposes because I want to stay up-to-date on what Amazon’s doing.
Just sold my Alexa spot and 2nd gen, and just bought the Apple HomePod Mini. Planning on buying another and a. Regular HomePod. I had a few issues with Alexa. A few times I woke up in the middle of the night to Alexa playing loud random music at 3am. And Alexa randomly turning on even after changing the wake word. With HomePod it’s easier to. On next with the ecosystem. I have the Apple TV, iPhone iPad and I can connect ALOT easier than I could with Alexa. And I feel a little safer with its privacy
I agree about the importance of privacy and how Amazon is not taking it seriously enough. I've been using Siri more and more too. But I have to say, the new Amazon Echo Show works MUCH better for me in the kitchen than the Google one. And it sounds way better too.
Yeah, the Echo Show is bigger and louder than the Google Home Hub. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but the Lenovo Smart Display might be a better 1:1 for that showdown. I really wish Amazon would get with the program and tighten up their privacy issues.
I have Alexa available for the first time on my new Samsung Smart TV. I’d rather press a few buttons on my remote than be spied on by Amazon 24/7. I will continue to use Siri. Thanks for this video! 🕵️♂️
I too have Sonos One's around my home and will also be switching over to Google Assistant once we're able too (would love to land an account on their public beta, should they release 1 outside of their current private beta). I can't say I'm thrilled about this news. I've heard about it from other places, but you just put it in such a better perspective. Always appreciate the incite and firsthand thoughts from you.
Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful. This is one of the reasons I recommend going with platform agnostic gear where you can. Makes it easy to switch things up without paying more money down the road. I’m really looking forward to the Google Assistant/Sonos rollout. I’d also love to be on the beta!
Amazon should offer some sort of buy back offer for used devices for people who are really upset about this issue. No one else does it this way, why does amazon have to? It doesn’t make sense. Maybe amazon is paid by governments to purposely do this and listen in? Hmmm, I wouldn’t put it past CERTAIN countries to do a stunt like this
There’s also the old saying, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” I’m far more inclined to believe it’s just shortcuts and mismanagement that’s leading to this stuff. Not matter what the cause though ... it’s still bad.
I'm as boring as it gets, so I pity the human reviewer that has to listen to any of my recordings. lol But it's all about how the data is managed. Nobody would want random employees to be able to access your credit card info, social security numbers, or medical records. This should be the same. It shouldn't be possible for an employee inside of any of the companies to trace back any of the voice data back to you as an individual. Apple's doing it right. Google is too. Amazon is really dropping the ball on this.
When this first surfaced, i set up a network traffic log on the IP of my Alexa. Its trivial to do. I let it run for 24 hours and on 3 occasions I asked for the time. Those 3 times were clearly visible in the log. The rest of the time was virtually nothing other than watchdogs and simple ICMP traffic. When I asked for the time, the traffic was almost 100x greater. Im not too worried, I think its just to cover fringe cases.
Another great video Matt! Ugh, I have a Alexa in every room of my house. I use them for home automation, music etc. I did hear about the privacy issue with Amazon just recently. I did hear though that there is a setting that can be changed so that nothing is being recorded and saved. I'm a huge fan of these assistants, I just don't know if I want to breakup with her though. Maybe Amazon will do some changes. Just have to wait and see.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. I’m not recommending that everyone take my path on this, but I’m more just trying to raise awareness. That’s part of the reason I joked around about my “breakup” in the beginning and end. This isn’t the end of the world or a five alarm fire, but definitely keep an eye on it. And there are settings you can tweak to try and reign it in a little bit.
Spoiler alert, most peoples lives aren’t as interesting as they think it is. It’s just a narcissistic idea that people actually care to listen about your life. 🤷🏻♂️
I have a VERY boring life, so I pity the human reviewer that has to listen to my recordings. However, that’s not the issue. It’s about data protection. Nobody would want a random employee in a company to have access to your credit card numbers, social security number, or medical records. Voice recordings, no matter how boring, should be protected with the same care.
See you haven’t really listened to the issue at the heart of this video. This is about personal data and location, not the fact humans are listening to the recordings.
I get what other people are saying, but like Fernando, my life and conversations aren't that interesting. I'm not giving shouting out personal info like ss# or credit card... I always type it in. Again I understand the decline of personal information security, but the second we get smart TVs, laptops, etc., you open yourself up. I just got my first Alexa last month and couldn't be happier. If they want to know that I have clothes or dishes to wash or what assignment my 1st grader has, have at it.
I'm happy to be old school I like to do thing things the old fashioned way I don't want to be snooped on by Amazon, Google or any other apps or assistants.
This video helped me decide to send my Alexa to the bottom of the ocean. but on a rope so I can pull it back up and smash it to pieces and put it where it really belongs. Sharing is caring and my recycling bin loves me.
Wow I knew there were some grey areas but Ring products? For a product designed and marketed to help you see who may be at your door, they sure screwed up the security aspects. Amazon I'd expect better
Amazon bought Ring which began life as a startup. That startup employed offshore software development teams and had weak controls in place. Amazon bought the company, took over sales and marketing, but did not move quickly enough to bring the technology in-line with best (better?) practices. Not an excuse, just an explanation.
I've always been in the Google camp, and all my smart plugs and bulbs are in Google. I do have a Fire Stick, but I've never used voice control through the remote.
I was talking to my wife about lemon drizzle cake yesterday and by the end of that conversation our Amazon show was suggesting recipes for Lemon drizzle cake. Be nice if this was a one off event but sadly no. Time for Amazons devices to go in our house.
I wouldn’t call it ignorant across the board. There is an ignorance to how the systems actually work, which also leads to people to writing the technology off as a spying device. It cuts both ways. It’s important to know how they work and what the company is doing with the data to make an educated decision. It’s also important for people who want to use these devices to know, so they can demand better privacy practices from companies like Amazon.
i have google that was given to us by sister-in-law because her husband said he will never volunteer to wire-tap himselves. I have it setup but mostly unplugged because of the privacy concerns mentioned. Up until now i did not know what google's policy is on protecting my privacy or how well collected data is protected so i air on the side of caution. with that being said i find google voice assistant to be of little use in my every day life. i'm not connected/plugged-in into modern technology/internet landscape and as such voice assistant is a little more than just a novelty that's mostly used by my 9 y.o. for mild entertainment, even then very briefly.
If you’re not someone into home automation, streaming music services, etc., voice assistant speakers like these aren’t super useful. It doesn’t surprise me that your 9 y.o. gets a kick out of it though. ;-)
One thing I learned in my 24 years on this planet: If a system enables people to abuse their power and gain more power, there always will be atleast someone doing it. So Google and Apple are doing the right thing by keeping human decisions out of the process as much as possible. Amazon saying: "Our employees are supposed to..." i already knew someone will abuse that power and what's the actual reason they developed Alexa; to advertise their stuff on Amazon more efficiently.
@1:48 "lost revenue opportunities due to restricted access" means they didn't encrypt it because then they couldn't sell your data... FYI this is why I do not have any "smart" devices. No smart phone and no smart things in the house. I got along fine for years turning off my own lights and not having a conversation with an appliance...
Ehhhh you can just opt out of the “helping improve Alexa” settings under privacy in the Alexa App settings. That effectively handles the other people listening the voice recording. All of the services you use has you opted in in some form. Even google records snippets and has people listening. I just think that it is slightly disingenuous to say the main reason are leaving Alexa is because of privacy concerns; when Google has a documented controversial history of sharing user’s private data with their products. What would make one think that the google home would be safer, when they have had privacy concerns with their other products and services? I mean if google works for you better, then great! I just feel that the other reasons should have been more enunciated than privacy risks that is shared across all platforms and technology devices.
To be clear, the privacy concern is not around the listening devices but around how the data is handled. An Amazon employee should not be able to tie a recording back to a specific account number or users location. That’s why I’ve shelved my Echos for the time being. Google and Apple are doing a better job anonymizing and preventing employees from tying recordings back to specific users. My move is not a statement that I think Google is great across the board. I have some big issues with them with other products, but for this specific use case ... I’m satisfied with how they are handling things. Of the big three companies I think Apple is way in the lead with privacy and data protections.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell how the data is handled is directly in alignment with the problem with listening devices. It’s a common shared concern of today’s use with technology devices, even when it comes to our phones, pc, even now our smart TVs. Again, if the problem is as you state with the issue “how it’s being handled”, a simple “opt out” in the settings takes care of that within a minute. I guess my overall problem is that this small piece of information was not conveyed to the audience. But, regardless of how I feel, you do have the right as a content creator to decide what and how you present your findings and deliberations. It just sits unwell with me that some less informed people would make the decision to spend more money to switch to another platform (google) without understanding that they can 1) circumvent this concern with opting out and 2) lead folks to believe that Google is better and privacy handling when their company is fairly flawed in that category. Overall I do respect that you are happier with the google home, I just had a counter opinion that it may be other reasons you enjoy the google home, and thought that they should have been more enunciated.
And for the record, I did not like it at all how Amazon is cataloging data and that employees are snickering on our private conversations. I just also know, that there is likely many of this type of stuff happening across any device that you allow to record your voice or video. It’s the direct downside to humans allowing technology companies into our homes.
All fair points, but we’ll have to disagree. My issue, which I stated clearly in the video, is how the data is being handled. Yes, you can “opt out,” but that’s obviously not the default. The vast majority of people will take it out of the box, plug it in, and start using it as is. The behind the scenes procedures could easily be adjusted to prevent exactly what’s happening and not expect users to turn off buried options in a series of menus. As a user interface and experience designer in my career, I find that deeply troubling that their device defaults to those settings and that the company’s procedures are handled like they are. Amazon is better than that. They’re full of talented developers (I know a few), so it’s well within their grasp to step up their game. Until they do ... I’m switching to another platform. A side note: I actually just finished a script yesterday for how to secure your voice assistant ... no matter which one you use. That should be out next week.
I have couple of each, I use Echo at work and for a very specific reason - when asking "How do you spell..." the Echo spells it out slowly and clearly, the Mini rapids fires the spelling and tells me the speed is not adjustable. I find them both decent at voice recognition, but this video makes me think 2x about having an Echo around the house.
Slow down there bud...no one cares about bugging your house. They're simply giving you the option to bug your own house in the name of convenience. Plus your daily life is bugged with that phone in your pocket if you wanna be practical.
@@joereilly7082 well if that's the case the I agree with your skepticism. I still maintain the fact that if you did have one they wouldnt care about you regardless. But my biggest gripe is when people are skeptical about technology but then have the nerve to walk around with an apple/android device in their pocket.lol
@@OffThaWallEnt Agreed! :) I am a computer programmer by trade and while those little devices don''t "record" your conversations they CAN and DO listen to what you say and can be instructed to report back to the mother ship to gather your "preferences", for instance if you order Chinese food a lot or discuss the avengers movie or what candidate you like or don't like. So much temptation to misuse the technology and you would never know.
@Dori Tos I understand the technical aspect of it all, what you don't understand in my statement is that the data stored needs to be anonymized as to the users generating it
There’s also a nuance to the “always listening.” Yes, it’s always listening, but it’s not always transmitting back to the mothership. It only transmits when it thinks it’s heard the trigger word, and then only transmits a short window of audio from around the trigger word. I’m also hoping that Amazon ups their security game here. I don’t want to see them fail, but just want better security practices ... and until that happens I’m no longer using it as my daily assistant. User privacy should be number 1 at all times.
@@UndecidedMF It's been my understanding that each device is always listening, of course it does, but on a local loop, and when the trigger word is "detected", either truly or falsely, it calls the mothership for AI treatment of the audio sequence and a response is sent back to the device. I think it will become better user-side since they are weary of their public image, and the service will only get better. Enjoying your videos
You’re 100% correct. It’s always recording a loop but only transmits when it thinks it hears the trigger word. I’m hopeful that things start to happen more and more on the device side and less on the cloud side. The less it has to phone home the better. Thanks for watching!
Whatever. I still prefer to use arms and legs to get stuff done. Cant' believe how huge is that piece of them that so many people is giving to big companies just to be more lazy.
I have a theory that netflix, amazon and hulu all obtain permissions on your phone... And use what they hear in people's everyday lives to create their shows. Of course the "all persons fictitious" disclaimer prevents it from being a thing... But believe me, its a thing.
That’s a common belief (listening in), but not true. All of these companies are able to learn a disturbing amount just from how we use their services and the meta data of who we call, text, what we buy, etc. It’s kind of crazy how well the can know us just from that.
I moved early into Alexa and it was pretty good compared to others when it came out. It still seems to have problems that should be fixed by now, but they're not. Sigh, more e-waste to generate as I replace Alexa.
I jumped in early too. That’s why I advocate for buying platform agnostic gear where possible. It’s really hard though when companies like Amazon are virtually giving them away around the holidays. 😜
Well, I guess you just have to look at companies' business models. Do they make money with users' data? Google, Amazon and Facebook do. Apple - they don't (they're in hardware business). That's all you have to know, really.
Strange times we live in... We voluntarily bug our own private sanctuary with listing devices because we are to lazy to flick a switch or launch an app... And yes your smartphone is also listing in should you allow permissions to do so which most people do... Then we complain about how these modern day data farmers handle our private information...
Lazy cattle indeed lol. But there is no reason not to use the technology available to us. And it is very cool technology. It is just these middlemen that are the problem. If you cut them out there is nothing wrong with home automation.
4:30 Apple is also starting to have Siri do more stuff without having to send any audio data whatsoever. The only issue with this unfortunately is that Siri sucks compared to the other two :/
I might be an old man. When I was young, I told my grandfather about this new service (pre-internet) where you could pay your bills by phone, using the keypad. He says, “The day I can’t lick a stamp is the day I have bigger problems.” With regard to these speakers, my thought is, “The day I can’t pick up my phone and tap the screen s few times is the day I have bigger problems.”
Hi Matt, I've just discovered your channel and am excited to dive into more of your videos. Would you say this still holds in 2023? Is Google the better choice for a smart speaker? I've been trying to avoid them for a while but the convenience is winning me over, and I want to invest in some smart home tech this year. Thanks in advance!
Glad to see you stumbled upon my channel! I don't really cover much on smart home tech on this channel these days, but am still an avid user (thinking of spinning up another channel dedicated to that). I think your mileage will vary on voice assistants. While Google is still the champ when it comes to features and answering random questions correctly, I actually just dropped all of my Google devices from my home. I was finding the Google Nest Hub Max getting worse at hearing me over time. Same with a smaller Google Nest device, so I gave up and am completely in Apple Homekit/Siri land for direct user interface (Home app on my phones/tablets and Siri for voice control). I think 2023 is going to be awesome for smart homes because of Matter. If you build out your home around products that already support Matter or will support it via a firmware update, you've got a lot of options. At that point you can mix and match your voice assistants and use whatever UI you want. I've been testing Matter supported products, or Thread products that will get Matter support, and am very hopeful for the year to come.
@@UndecidedMF thanks for the quick and detailed reply! I also think 2023 will be a huge year for smart homes and automation. We're an android family, so homekit won't work for us, but I think your recommendation to build up devices based around Matter makes loads of sense. I'm still undecided on a smart assistant though!
this is nwo stuff, why would u use this?? I have no apps on my phone cause they spy on you and I don't have my smart TV connected to Web or use it smart features. My privacy is mine alone and I will protect it myself.
I have an echo dot. I used it for one day. I discovered Alexa is an idiot. She was unable to play anything at all by a favorite music Artist of mine depsite it being right in front of her proverbial nose. I would ask, Alexa play a song by Seiko Oomori and she always asserted that such a song did not exist. I set one to play, and asked, Alexa name the Artist for the song currently playing. She replies, this song is by Seiko Oomori. I then said Alexa, play another song by Seiko Oomori. Alexa replies, I can't find any songs by Seiko Oomori. I might be paraphrasing a bit but not much. An AI you say. I think not. It's unplugged now and gathering dust. Amazon is an overgrown dime store to be sure but they have no technology to speak of, it seems. yikes. Yeah I know the S3 stuff works, but still.
I recieved a Amazon dot. I want to be safe and protected but I am not sure how I feel about these voice operated devices. I am doing the research weighing pros and cons
So you don't approve of being recorded and having your data abused, yet as soon as it's concealed you switch the trust back on? The tos between the corporations are not that different.
I also find she doesn't respond when I ask her and she seems to know f*** all when I ask a question, I feel as though I should have invested in a Google hub. Because when I ask a question regarding a film or just something she just says "Sorry I don't know that" And I cant believe that every video I've watched the word Alexa is beeped out And sometimes my Alexa has responded to the TV but when you rewind the programme and do it again it doesn't do it a second time
Can the cops listen to you through Alexa if you unplug it? I know I was told that even if you turn your phone off the cops or government can still listen to what you are saying. If your smart/cell phone can still listen to you or someone else still can spy on you can that still happen even if you remove the power from the back of the Alexa mini smart speaker?
I am a huge fan of home automation but always wonder about my privacy and how it's being used. After watching your video, (great info BTW) I am thinking about phasing out Alexa and just use google as a primary voice assistant.
At lot of people are very uncomfortable with these devices, which I get. But knowing how the companies are handling our data and protecting our privacy is key. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want to make sure my privacy is properly protected, but also want all of the great benefits of a smart home. It can be done ... we just have to go in with our eyes open. And hold a companies feet to the fire if they’re not doing it right.
Thanks for watching. That’s what some of my friends do too. It removes some of the convenience, but does keep you covered from the random eavesdropping.
Not even when hell freezes over. Never, ever. I even completely disable siri and other data collection on any mac I use, and have disabled any and all data collection in my Google account, with rechecks every few months. These companies can suck it until there's proper, enforced law surrounding this that favors the consumer, not the corporations. No facebook for me either. People are blind to what's going on but I'm not.
Direct quote from my video, "I know and understand how these always listening devices work and have no problem with them, but the service I’m using better do a good job to ensure my private data remains private. Not just putting policies into place to make accessing my information against the rules, but also make it so employees simply can’t access it even if they wanted to."
I don't want to use Facebook but i'm tied to it by my friends and family. They are absolutely listening to me, the adverts I get are creepy specific when I know i've not even typed about it.
My friend with Alexa in a domotic house for some reason had his Amazon profile blocked. That cause he can't command his house. This Is unacceptable. For safety reason i think that an assistant must be under total control of the owner. Use Alexa or Google assistant only for infotainment.
Lol, I left Amazon voice assistant long ago, after the Alexa scary laugh incident. I don't feel secure with Alexa.
I should have included that in my video too. Not really a data breach, but a pretty funny and freaky incident.
Not so funny at 3.15 in the morning ? A taste of things to come ? Don't forget, you have to invite them across your threshold !
Oh my god ... that would be a horror show.
I swear that if my Alexa goes off in the night and makes some creepy laugh that there will be one dead echo and a hole in my wall!! I watch too much Ghost Hunters and just wonder when they will start reacting to EVP's!!
Not really understand much but is yes or no! To use Alexa
We were born without Alexa and Siri yet people act like these things are a necessity.
I am PERSONALLY UNCOMFORTABLE with these 3rd party devices recording all my personal conversations.
😂 They'll get bored to f### listening to mine, I live on my own and haven't started talking to myself yet... plus, I only use it to ask the time or use it to time my pizza! ... I suppose I might get adverts for clocks and watches! 🤔😀😂
An idiots last cry, I didn't to anything.
@@huseman21 ?
I will continue with the old fashioned way. No Alexa for me
Or me don't trust it as well I feel having something like that can also make the mind lazy
Annette Melnychuk Yep, no always listening Alexa for me, if a company does something like have a commercial where they lie about something like it “not being able to hear you unless you say a word” then I’d rather want to do nothing with the product
Ok
@@saahil22 sadly I gave in and got a Google Nest and it was the best thing ever
@@annetteslife I got one to it was a great investment
Lmao, you trust Google with your privacy, that is an oxymoron. I don't trust any of these companys with my privacy regardless of how they SAY they handle it ... You either accept the risk or choose to go with out. To say you chose one over the other because of privacy concerns is suspect at best.
As far as the second reason you chose to switch ... never really had an issue with my Echo understanding me on a daily basis. And as far as features you described that you get with the G Home Hub, yea its called an Echo Show ... seemed like bias advertisement to me, lol, jk.
Either way, good video Matt!
I totally agree with you Chaotic Thinking!
While I agree with you to some degree, I wouldn't say that Google can't be trusted in some ways. Google doesn't have a lot in terms of privacy, but they have a lot in protection (you can also see all the data they collect and choose to share/remove a lot of it). I hope that soon data privacy and data security/protection stop being referred to by the same names. It just causes even more confusion. I don't expect Google to keep all of my data private. I am using services at the cost of data. I do expect them to keep that data protected, however. This has been Amazon's issue.
I’m starting to think I didn’t do a good enough job conveying my concern in the video (this isn’t the first comment bringing this up). It has nothing to do with Amazon, Google, or Apple listening or collecting this data. Or the fact they have human reviewers that check some of the recordings for accuracy to train the system. It’s the procedures the company has in place to protect our data and anonymize it. Employees within the company shouldn’t be able to trace any recording back to the source, but Amazon has some flaws in their system that allow that to happen. Google and Apple are doing a much better job on this front to anonymize the data.
Nicholas, you nailed it. It’s how the company is handling the data they’re collecting. Not that they’re collecting that data in the first place I’m taking issue with.
@@UndecidedMF I personally tend to trust Google more than anyone else on data security since their biggest asset is keeping it secret. Companies can only sell data once, while Google can sell the use of data forever. Yes Google knows a lot (it's fun to look at myActivity sometimes), but I don't worry much about it getting outside of Google. They built a business on data collection and security, so if they fail I give up.
Excellent video Matt! I agree completely and recently broke up with my Alexa devices too. They are the only devices I did not re-connect to my network after recently getting my new router set up. This is an important topic and I appreciate anyone who speaks about it. Thanks for a great analysis and for making this video.
Thanks, Shane! Keeping your smart home focused on Apple as your backbone is a smart move. They’re one of the few big companies keeping things really locked down to benefit the user.
Same here! When I moved across the country I did not rehook up my Alexa devices.. I have been thinking about getting a Homepod Mini because Apple is having Siri do a lot more offline but unfortunately Siri just sucks compared to the others :/ Siri won't even control Phillips Hue scenes at all. You have to add scenes specifically to HomeKit, and when I add a scene from Hue it seems to always like revert back to a previously saved scene or some BS.. Both Alexa and Google Home I can say "turn on [hue scene]" and it's instantly recognized.. Well with Alexa I have to import scenes from Hue, but it's a one click process and works flawlessly. Siri's "workaround" doesn't even work at all.. And the other problem with Homepod is that you can't play Spotify or anything other than Apple Music, spatial audio only works with Apple apps, and you can't even use two of them as a stereo pair for your Mac audio output device.. Soo frustratingly stupid :/ I honestly think unless Apple does more than increase privacy Siri HomePod mini is going to go the way of HomePod.
How cheap it is to buy, should be the biggest red flag
Love it! I've been wary of privacy concerns for awhile, but honestly, I'm also tired of our Alexa's false wakings, disconnects, and other stuff. Haven't had disconnect issues with our Homepod. I feel more comfortable with Apple's privacy, of the three. I'm not too tin-hatty, but I am not a fan of google for a number of reasons; I wish Google assistant wasn't so far ahead. :) Anyways, thanks again. Great video.
Not tin-hatty at all. There are aspects of Google that I’m not a fan of either and make me a little uneasy, but I’ve got to give them props when it comes to Google Assistant. Apple’s catching up though.
@@UndecidedMF no matter how you look at it. Apple will NEVER catch up, unless Apple opens up Siri on the backend or server side. To this day iOS developers still cannot make voice apps for Apple's one and only smart speaker. Oh, and Siri shortcuts is definitely NOT a SiriKit voice app.
Great video Matt. My wife wouldn't let me get an alexa because she didn't want 'the man' listening in on our house, lol. When i got one free with another order on black friday I had to keep it in the office only. Then she came in one day and was enjoying the music from it. Now it sits on the kitchen counter however she normally mutes it unless she's cooking or listening to music, lol. I can't say I blame her now that I've seen your results. EDIT: hopefully this gets to Amazon somehow to review their privacy policies around alexa.
Thanks! I don’t blame her, or anyone really, for that view on these devices. They can be creepy. I hope and think Amazon will eventually get things pulled together, but the way things are right now ... it’s troubling.
Excellent coverage of some important aspects of voice assistant data privacy. Hopefully this will encourage the industry to trend towards transparency and personal ownership of user data.
The Amazon products have always worked better for me. I spent a year with Echo Dot/ Google Home Mini combinations in four different locations in my home and Alexa won hands down when it came to both voice control of smart devices and playing requested music. Google seemed to "know" a bit more when questioned but it appears to me as though the gap in knowledge between the two is narrowing. I really don't care about who might hear me say "Alexa, good morning" or "Alexa, good night" a thousand times to run daily routines. And, I have made a habit of deleting all my recordings on a fairly regular basis. Now, if I can just keep myself from saying "Alexa, my Social Security number is ###-##-####," I think I'll be okay.
Good point..not sure if I'll use Alexa for the lightening but for sure I'll like reminder or to create To-Do lists...to set a reminder or delete it will be 5 times faster than with my apps notes on my phone
Exactly. I'm only using mine in my studio for work purposes too. I don't think I've ever said personal info out loud anyway lol.
People think the government cares about what you're having for dinner
What do you think your smart phones and smart tvs are doing ? No difference
It’s not that the systems are listening and getting reviewed by humans. The issue is that Amazon is not properly anonymizing our data and employees can tie recordings back to a user account and location. Both Google and Apple are doing a better job with that. Amazon needs to step up their game.
Exactly, seems many have lots to hide that they worry so much.
@@UndecidedMF ... In reality you don't know what Google and Apple (or anyone else) are really doing, so it's a mute point. It doesn't matter what x company says, you will never really know.
So you either accept this is the case and continue to use these types of devices or you don't. If you believe what companies tell you then you are somewhat naive. Also Google are being somewhat shitty when it comes to them removing nest compatibility with other devices so it's not like Google home is the best way to go currently.
If you set them up properly your android phone leaks nothing to anybody.
Wait till you set up Phillips Hue routines in Google home then have Google break connection with Hue like what happened on May 17th, second time in a year and all your routines don't work anymore. Good luck, your going to need it.
I ditched Facebook after years of using their platform due to their business practices. If Amazon decides to not get its shit together Alexa may be next. I must point out as well that I also break up with any subsidiary companies that they may own as well, when I do decide to burn a bridge.
I left FB 3 weekends ago and I don't miss it at all. I do plan on logging in to do a once over type thing to see if any of the videos or pictures of my husband and I are able to be downloaded. The new "M" word is not our friend.
In regards to the "A" word and the topic of this video, smh they replaced and refunded me so much that each device is now... *free* aka no cost, how does that work? Definitely makes me wonder|think, why do they want us to have these so badly?🤔
The "E" word, I unplugged long ago, not sure what the point is. Since I don't listen to music on it. And the others with screens, the sole purpose of buying *one* was per the recommendation of 💍 so I'd be able to see my driveway faster. I put the emphasis on 1 because that's the only one I bought, but they replaced it, let me keep the "defective" one then sent me another new one. Then that one started having the same issues. So I was refunded and told to keep it. So now I have 2 and they replaced with another one. So now I have 3...on the house.
But hey, I know they're listening, so I talk about what I need them to hear 👂 like *let me check Walmart for this one, they always have great prices and they always ship out the same day!* I'll also pretend that I'm having a conversation on the phone with a friend about "A" and why they take so long to ship my order, "that's crazy Sis!"
My orders now ship within a couple of days. I'm not a "prime rib" customer.
Lastly, I had to click a TOS before commenting here. The internet is too much.
I switched from Echo's to HomePods whenever the HomePod originally released (just made sense given that I was already pretty invested in Apple's ecosystem). I do appreciate Apple's commitment to user privacy relative to many other companies but more than that, my HomePod does a much better job of hearing its wake word when it's playing music (even at loud volumes) and I REALLY appreciate not having to scream at it to get its attention. It's a huge plus.
I’ve noticed that same thing too. It’s pretty impressive how well it works in a music filled room.
I have never seen a compelling reason to own any of these products. I've used them at other people's houses and once on my phone when it was initially set up (disabled shortly thereafter). It's a mildly amusing novelty at best for about 10 minutes and then just another unnecessary and profligate bauble. I'm mainly just impressed with the underlying voice recognition technology that's recently been solved with deep learning. 20 years ago it seemed an utterly intractable problem requiring huge computational power and delivering invariably abysmal accuracy. Now, it's become so unbelievably accurate I turn it on in youtube sometimes when *I* can't tell what's being said and it frequently helps accurately fill in gaps I can't even discern. Now if only they could do something about the still very atrocious state of language translation.
"Now if only they could do something about the still very atrocious state of language translation." Unfortunately the properly labelled data-sets available for translation are more limited than Natural Language Processing. This problem will likely see headway as advances are made in unsupervised learning.
It’s not for everyone, but it also depends on how you have voice assistants set up. In a smart home setting it can be extremely useful and more than a bauble, especially for people with disabilities. 9 times out of 10 though, I see them in friends and families homes set up in a very surface level way.
I bought an Echo myself when I bought one for my 96-year-old father, even though I had serious privacy concerns. Turned out, he hated his, and I didn't feel that mine did enough that was useful to justify the risks, so I gave it away--but not before writing a review in which I called it, not a "bauble," but a "novelty item." Within 10 minutes of posting the review, I had a phone call from an Amazon representative offering immediate tech support because, of course, there could be no reason for diverging from the general acclamation of the Echo except my incompetence. That they were watching the customer reviews so carefully on this item didn't do much to allay my privacy concerns.
The background music name is "Siren Screen" by "Ooyy". Good choice of music.
I’ve been using a lot of Ooyy’s tracks in my videos. Great music.
Here’s a must-have Alexa feature: The Amazon Echoes tend to have better sound quality.
I am saddened by the apparent compulsion to use and trust these devices - is it laziness? Gullibility? Is your life really better because of the money spent on these technologies? I hear so many complaints - it is clearly common for them to misunderstand and frustrate users, and now scary that they are harvesting data, so much is now known about YOU. I get along just fine with no smart device, no wi-fi, no wired home, no doorbell cameras, no microphones, just the internet; and I get news and read articles and continue learning EVERY DAY. I am not a slave to modern gadgets, and I shake my head thinking about the money people spend monthly for these things!
Oh, if I had a penny each month for each 'smartphone' just from the people in my county, I'd be very very rich! It's no wonder the phone companies push plans with four phones - it is SO PROFITABLE it's criminal.
Please explain to my why they need any samples of what we say???? what to make the system more accurate?? thats a total lie, after a few billion examples they already have I seriously doubt any more samples will improve anything.
"And this conversation is being recorded for quality assurance", my a**!!!!!!! I turn everything off that I'm aware capable of turning off. Just in case I use a dumb phone and keep a sound machine with running water sound going 24/7 next to my laptop. I don't know if that works, but you know from the old spy movies to stifle phone recordings.
Another excellent video Matt! Siri on Sonos would make me happy or an expanded product lineup for the HomePod.
Thanks! I really wish true Siri support would come to third party speakers like Sonos, but something tells me hell will freeze over first. Hopefully Apple expands the Homepod lineup to include something like a Homepod Mini.
@@UndecidedMF your not going to see a HomePod mini, especially if your expectation is lower prices for a HomePod mini. Remember Apple's Siri requires the use of hardware that runs a flavor of Apple's iOS. It's why you see Apples current HomePod use their A8 Soc with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. That requirement alone means you will NEVER see prices close to a Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo Dot. That also means if Apple were to try and cut costs down for a cheaper HomePod, then they would have to cut the costs down on the sound quality, but that would compromise Apple and their great sound from their HomePod. This is why I believe Apple partnered with Amazon, and place their Apple music on Amazon Echo devices, because Apple cannot get the prices down far enough to make a true mini or dot versions.
Sean Godsell the A8 is a few generations old now..so it could be possible to use an older chip if it won’t take much to power Siri that should keep cost down
I agree, Brian. They don’t have to put the latest and greatest in there to still have a fully functional lower-end speaker. But I also don’t think they have to go down as low as a $30 - $50 speaker. I don’t think that’s where Apple wants to compete. If they did make a Homepod Mini, I could see it being around the $100 - $150 price point (half the cost of the big brother).
@@UndecidedMFLet's say Apple makes a HomePod mini to sell at the prices that you stated. It's definitely not going to have the great sound like it's bigger brother. So then it's a Siri smart speaker, and don't forget Apple still doesn't allow it's developers to make Siri apps for its original HomePod, nevermind this new so call cheaper HomePod. At $100-$150 is still way to much for a Siri smart speaker, especially since it's still far behind the competition in terms of functionality, options, and compatibility.
I don't want any of them in my house but I completely agree that Google is the best with voice. I use it in my car with AA and it is excellent. Natural language is almost always spot on for knowing what I am after. The only thing I wish for was that AA would support more kinds of queries so that random trivia questions can be answered.
Voice features really have some great use cases. The car is a perfect example.
it took a long time for you to took this wise decision
I’ve been cutting Amazon some slack to see if they’d make improvements. Instead more and more stories kept coming out. It’s a shame. I really hope they get things cleaned up.
I was using an Amazon Echo dot and haven’t used it in moths. There is a lot of risk of using it. The big problem with these companies is that they need to encrypt the data and make the input completely anonymous regardless.
Exactly. The data they collect needs to encrypted and anonymized.
I can't imagine our family having much that the security agency's want . Who knows who's listening in or reading what you write or watching what your seeing . It's the modern world !
I pity anyone who has to listen to or read all of these audio snippets. It’s got to be incredibly mind numbing work ... and boring content for the most part. Our conversations are no Tom Clancy novel, but if you want to overhear my wife and I talking about some random Netflix TV show ... we’re where it’s at.
Maybe the opinions shared in your home by your family or guests are used in ways that haven’t occurred to you.
Great video. I used to have 7 Amazon echos in my home but I am now down to just 1 and it is in my garage. Inside of my house I am now 100% Apple products as I trust Siri a LOT more than Google or Amazon (and you couldn't pay me enough to put a Facebook Portal in my home).
I don't have a choice since I need the Ring camera doorbell and ring security camera's in my home. Apparently it comes with Alexa.
@@jayyou1887 Hi Jay, I also have the Ring Doorbell, a Ring Floodlight Cam, and 2 outside Blink cameras (that I bought before they were purchased by Amazon). They all work with Alexa but at least the versions of them I purchased about 2 years ago, they didn't have Alexa built in. I also have a Nest thermostat that I bought from Nest before Nest was purchased by Google. Over the next few months, I am planning to replace these devices with devices that are Homekit compatible and cameras that will use Apple's encrypted iCloud storage.
@@businessreform I wish I knew Apple could save my recordings on iCloud. I went to Geek Squad to set up my Ring home security. I hope the 2 motion camera's can be shut off to not have me on them. Wish I could turn them off on my apple iPhone.
@@businessreform You are more knowledgeable than I am. I just decided to stick with the Ring doorbell, two chimes, and two doorbells. Someday I hope to find a flood/water sensor that works with my iPhone when I'm not home or even when I am home to let me know there is a leak. My neighbor had a leak a few days ago (her second) and if her friend didn't happen to check in the boiler room on the balcony it would have flooded downstairs a second time. I now have 2.4 GHz. If I can find something that is not impossible to open the battery compartment I will try it. To bad Alexa can't tell me about a water leak or flood on my iPhone, at least I don't think it can. All these devices and gadgets get so expensive.
I suspected that much about Amazon, although i never researched about their policies and how they enforced them. But i researched Google and that's why i use their voice recognition devices. Good video. Keep up with the good work.
Thanks! I’m pretty happy with Google’s policies and procedures around the Google Home devices. Same for Apple with Siri. Amazon though is really dropping the ball. They need to raise the bar, especially considering that they’re the market leader for smart speakers.
Its gonna be a no 4 me......I barely trust social media......reasons why I dont post personal stuff anymore
This feels like , looks like and sounds like an advertisement.
Thank you for this video. I have a Google Home Hub and was thinking of switching to Alexa for Apple Music use. Not anymore. Thanks again!
They all do it.
Ya did this 2 years ago, told people they were being monitored but no one listened untill 2019.
Same. People told me I was crazy until all the reports came out.
I'm not sure why you beeped out "Alexa" in the video, but I noticed you missed one.
I actually had an Echo on nearby when I watched the rough cut to make it sure it wouldn’t trigger anyone’s devices. I only bleeped the ones that seemed to trigger it.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell, that explanation makes no sense, sorry. And the video is literally about you not using it anymore.
We’ll have to disagree on that. But I’m not using it anymore for personal use. I’ve unplugged all of my Echos. And I’ll be switching my Sonos speakers over to Google Assistant as soon as it’s available. But I am still keeping an Echo handy for testing purposes because I want to stay up-to-date on what Amazon’s doing.
Joel Tunnah it’s for people who watch if they have an alexa the video wont trigger it
Just sold my Alexa spot and 2nd gen, and just bought the Apple HomePod Mini. Planning on buying another and a. Regular HomePod. I had a few issues with Alexa. A few times I woke up in the middle of the night to Alexa playing loud random music at 3am. And Alexa randomly turning on even after changing the wake word. With HomePod it’s easier to. On next with the ecosystem. I have the Apple TV, iPhone iPad and I can connect ALOT easier than I could with Alexa. And I feel a little safer with its privacy
I agree about the importance of privacy and how Amazon is not taking it seriously enough. I've been using Siri more and more too. But I have to say, the new Amazon Echo Show works MUCH better for me in the kitchen than the Google one. And it sounds way better too.
Yeah, the Echo Show is bigger and louder than the Google Home Hub. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but the Lenovo Smart Display might be a better 1:1 for that showdown. I really wish Amazon would get with the program and tighten up their privacy issues.
I have Alexa available for the first time on my new Samsung Smart TV. I’d rather press a few buttons on my remote than be spied on by Amazon 24/7. I will continue to use Siri. Thanks for this video! 🕵️♂️
The ring camera is whatever. Wanna stare at my front lawn? Have at it
Alexa turn on the lights
Alexa: No
My gosh Matt. So informative and helpful. I have Google and glad I didn’t go the Amazon route. Thank you!
Jean Mortellaro my gosh? Seriously??????? Lol!
I too have Sonos One's around my home and will also be switching over to Google Assistant once we're able too (would love to land an account on their public beta, should they release 1 outside of their current private beta). I can't say I'm thrilled about this news. I've heard about it from other places, but you just put it in such a better perspective. Always appreciate the incite and firsthand thoughts from you.
Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful. This is one of the reasons I recommend going with platform agnostic gear where you can. Makes it easy to switch things up without paying more money down the road. I’m really looking forward to the Google Assistant/Sonos rollout. I’d also love to be on the beta!
Amazon should offer some sort of buy back offer for used devices for people who are really upset about this issue. No one else does it this way, why does amazon have to? It doesn’t make sense. Maybe amazon is paid by governments to purposely do this and listen in? Hmmm, I wouldn’t put it past CERTAIN countries to do a stunt like this
There’s also the old saying, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” I’m far more inclined to believe it’s just shortcuts and mismanagement that’s leading to this stuff. Not matter what the cause though ... it’s still bad.
Without even watching video, smart phones also listening and recording
Apple phones are self encrypted so it’s safe
It just doesn’t bother me. There’s so many people using it that I don’t think it matters. I’m just not that interesting. But I do see your Point.
I'm as boring as it gets, so I pity the human reviewer that has to listen to any of my recordings. lol
But it's all about how the data is managed. Nobody would want random employees to be able to access your credit card info, social security numbers, or medical records. This should be the same. It shouldn't be possible for an employee inside of any of the companies to trace back any of the voice data back to you as an individual. Apple's doing it right. Google is too. Amazon is really dropping the ball on this.
When this first surfaced, i set up a network traffic log on the IP of my Alexa. Its trivial to do. I let it run for 24 hours and on 3 occasions I asked for the time. Those 3 times were clearly visible in the log. The rest of the time was virtually nothing other than watchdogs and simple ICMP traffic. When I asked for the time, the traffic was almost 100x greater.
Im not too worried, I think its just to cover fringe cases.
Al*beep*sa
Another great video Matt! Ugh, I have a Alexa in every room of my house. I use them for home automation, music etc. I did hear about the privacy issue with Amazon just recently. I did hear though that there is a setting that can be changed so that nothing is being recorded and saved. I'm a huge fan of these assistants, I just don't know if I want to breakup with her though. Maybe Amazon will do some changes. Just have to wait and see.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. I’m not recommending that everyone take my path on this, but I’m more just trying to raise awareness. That’s part of the reason I joked around about my “breakup” in the beginning and end. This isn’t the end of the world or a five alarm fire, but definitely keep an eye on it. And there are settings you can tweak to try and reign it in a little bit.
Where is this setting?
@@Sunshine-yl4vx Check out this video from Matt. This should have your answers. ruclips.net/video/7Q-Mo8vh4KE/видео.html
Still going to use my Alexa at home. I don't give a darn what she hears or who reads it.
sed6 lmao sad but same. There is no privacy nowadays regardless so fuck it
oscar tovar:
you need help..
Spoiler alert, most peoples lives aren’t as interesting as they think it is. It’s just a narcissistic idea that people actually care to listen about your life. 🤷🏻♂️
I have a VERY boring life, so I pity the human reviewer that has to listen to my recordings. However, that’s not the issue. It’s about data protection. Nobody would want a random employee in a company to have access to your credit card numbers, social security number, or medical records. Voice recordings, no matter how boring, should be protected with the same care.
I agree 100%.
You are missing the point completely.
See you haven’t really listened to the issue at the heart of this video. This is about personal data and location, not the fact humans are listening to the recordings.
I get what other people are saying, but like Fernando, my life and conversations aren't that interesting. I'm not giving shouting out personal info like ss# or credit card... I always type it in. Again I understand the decline of personal information security, but the second we get smart TVs, laptops, etc., you open yourself up. I just got my first Alexa last month and couldn't be happier. If they want to know that I have clothes or dishes to wash or what assignment my 1st grader has, have at it.
I'm happy to be old school I like to do thing things the old fashioned way I don't want to be snooped on by Amazon, Google or any other apps or assistants.
Switched to Google too. I would wake up at night and see the blue like on alexa. I can't wait for Sonos to all Google assistant use
Me too. It's supposed to be coming out this week!
This video helped me decide to send my Alexa to the bottom of the ocean. but on a rope so I can pull it back up and smash it to pieces and put it where it really belongs. Sharing is caring and my recycling bin loves me.
Wow I knew there were some grey areas but Ring products? For a product designed and marketed to help you see who may be at your door, they sure screwed up the security aspects. Amazon I'd expect better
It’s kind of shocking.
Amazon bought Ring which began life as a startup. That startup employed offshore software development teams and had weak controls in place. Amazon bought the company, took over sales and marketing, but did not move quickly enough to bring the technology in-line with best (better?) practices. Not an excuse, just an explanation.
Yep, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
I've always been in the Google camp, and all my smart plugs and bulbs are in Google. I do have a Fire Stick, but I've never used voice control through the remote.
you SHOULD have a problem with alexa always listening and recording your privet home, and google and apple is doing the same thing!
No kidding! A lot of people here are trying to justify it by saying "your phone does that anyway!" without addressing the real problem here.
I was talking to my wife about lemon drizzle cake yesterday and by the end of that conversation our Amazon show was suggesting recipes for Lemon drizzle cake. Be nice if this was a one off event but sadly no. Time for Amazons devices to go in our house.
I said goodbye to both Alexa and Google home a long time ago. People use them because they're so ignorant.
I wouldn’t call it ignorant across the board. There is an ignorance to how the systems actually work, which also leads to people to writing the technology off as a spying device. It cuts both ways. It’s important to know how they work and what the company is doing with the data to make an educated decision. It’s also important for people who want to use these devices to know, so they can demand better privacy practices from companies like Amazon.
Great Video, Lately your audio has been sounding a bit weird, did you change something
Yep. Weird in what way?
i have google that was given to us by sister-in-law because her husband said he will never volunteer to wire-tap himselves. I have it setup but mostly unplugged because of the privacy concerns mentioned. Up until now i did not know what google's policy is on protecting my privacy or how well collected data is protected so i air on the side of caution. with that being said i find google voice assistant to be of little use in my every day life. i'm not connected/plugged-in into modern technology/internet landscape and as such voice assistant is a little more than just a novelty that's mostly used by my 9 y.o. for mild entertainment, even then very briefly.
If you’re not someone into home automation, streaming music services, etc., voice assistant speakers like these aren’t super useful. It doesn’t surprise me that your 9 y.o. gets a kick out of it though. ;-)
One thing I learned in my 24 years on this planet: If a system enables people to abuse their power and gain more power, there always will be atleast someone doing it. So Google and Apple are doing the right thing by keeping human decisions out of the process as much as possible. Amazon saying: "Our employees are supposed to..." i already knew someone will abuse that power and what's the actual reason they developed Alexa; to advertise their stuff on Amazon more efficiently.
@1:48 "lost revenue opportunities due to restricted access" means they didn't encrypt it because then they couldn't sell your data...
FYI this is why I do not have any "smart" devices. No smart phone and no smart things in the house. I got along fine for years turning off my own lights and not having a conversation with an appliance...
Ehhhh you can just opt out of the “helping improve Alexa” settings under privacy in the Alexa App settings. That effectively handles the other people listening the voice recording. All of the services you use has you opted in in some form. Even google records snippets and has people listening.
I just think that it is slightly disingenuous to say the main reason are leaving Alexa is because of privacy concerns; when Google has a documented controversial history of sharing user’s private data with their products. What would make one think that the google home would be safer, when they have had privacy concerns with their other products and services?
I mean if google works for you better, then great! I just feel that the other reasons should have been more enunciated than privacy risks that is shared across all platforms and technology devices.
To be clear, the privacy concern is not around the listening devices but around how the data is handled. An Amazon employee should not be able to tie a recording back to a specific account number or users location. That’s why I’ve shelved my Echos for the time being. Google and Apple are doing a better job anonymizing and preventing employees from tying recordings back to specific users. My move is not a statement that I think Google is great across the board. I have some big issues with them with other products, but for this specific use case ... I’m satisfied with how they are handling things. Of the big three companies I think Apple is way in the lead with privacy and data protections.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell how the data is handled is directly in alignment with the problem with listening devices. It’s a common shared concern of today’s use with technology devices, even when it comes to our phones, pc, even now our smart TVs.
Again, if the problem is as you state with the issue “how it’s being handled”, a simple “opt out” in the settings takes care of that within a minute.
I guess my overall problem is that this small piece of information was not conveyed to the audience. But, regardless of how I feel, you do have the right as a content creator to decide what and how you present your findings and deliberations. It just sits unwell with me that some less informed people would make the decision to spend more money to switch to another platform (google) without understanding that they can 1) circumvent this concern with opting out and 2) lead folks to believe that Google is better and privacy handling when their company is fairly flawed in that category.
Overall I do respect that you are happier with the google home, I just had a counter opinion that it may be other reasons you enjoy the google home, and thought that they should have been more enunciated.
And for the record, I did not like it at all how Amazon is cataloging data and that employees are snickering on our private conversations. I just also know, that there is likely many of this type of stuff happening across any device that you allow to record your voice or video. It’s the direct downside to humans allowing technology companies into our homes.
All fair points, but we’ll have to disagree. My issue, which I stated clearly in the video, is how the data is being handled. Yes, you can “opt out,” but that’s obviously not the default. The vast majority of people will take it out of the box, plug it in, and start using it as is. The behind the scenes procedures could easily be adjusted to prevent exactly what’s happening and not expect users to turn off buried options in a series of menus. As a user interface and experience designer in my career, I find that deeply troubling that their device defaults to those settings and that the company’s procedures are handled like they are. Amazon is better than that. They’re full of talented developers (I know a few), so it’s well within their grasp to step up their game. Until they do ... I’m switching to another platform.
A side note: I actually just finished a script yesterday for how to secure your voice assistant ... no matter which one you use. That should be out next week.
I put it on mute and said Alexa good morning and it answered EVERY TIME. I rebooted now it’s stopped. But I KNOW someone is listening
I have couple of each, I use Echo at work and for a very specific reason - when asking "How do you spell..." the Echo spells it out slowly and clearly, the Mini rapids fires the spelling and tells me the speed is not adjustable. I find them both decent at voice recognition, but this video makes me think 2x about having an Echo around the house.
Hell freezing over would not be enough for me to put one of these "devices" into my home. If you want to bug my house get a warrant.
Slow down there bud...no one cares about bugging your house. They're simply giving you the option to bug your own house in the name of convenience. Plus your daily life is bugged with that phone in your pocket if you wanna be practical.
@@OffThaWallEnt Actually, I carry a flip phone and only when I have to for work. :)
@@joereilly7082 well if that's the case the I agree with your skepticism. I still maintain the fact that if you did have one they wouldnt care about you regardless. But my biggest gripe is when people are skeptical about technology but then have the nerve to walk around with an apple/android device in their pocket.lol
A warrant is no longer needed, per the Patriots act. Sorry. 🤷🏾♀️
@@OffThaWallEnt Agreed! :) I am a computer programmer by trade and while those little devices don''t "record" your conversations they CAN and DO listen to what you say and can be instructed to report back to the mother ship to gather your "preferences", for instance if you order Chinese food a lot or discuss the avengers movie or what candidate you like or don't like. So much temptation to misuse the technology and you would never know.
Alexa... It's not me, it's you...
I’m deactivating my Alexa and throwing it out,screw that!
I'm at 5 Echo speakers, still like them, but Amazon better up their game with regards to its users privacy
@Dori Tos I understand the technical aspect of it all, what you don't understand in my statement is that the data stored needs to be anonymized as to the users generating it
There’s also a nuance to the “always listening.” Yes, it’s always listening, but it’s not always transmitting back to the mothership. It only transmits when it thinks it’s heard the trigger word, and then only transmits a short window of audio from around the trigger word.
I’m also hoping that Amazon ups their security game here. I don’t want to see them fail, but just want better security practices ... and until that happens I’m no longer using it as my daily assistant. User privacy should be number 1 at all times.
@@UndecidedMF It's been my understanding that each device is always listening, of course it does, but on a local loop, and when the trigger word is "detected", either truly or falsely, it calls the mothership for AI treatment of the audio sequence and a response is sent back to the device.
I think it will become better user-side since they are weary of their public image, and the service will only get better.
Enjoying your videos
You’re 100% correct. It’s always recording a loop but only transmits when it thinks it hears the trigger word. I’m hopeful that things start to happen more and more on the device side and less on the cloud side. The less it has to phone home the better.
Thanks for watching!
At least some people are seeing the madness it really is.
Edit: Hmmm, seems i have spoken to soon..
Whatever. I still prefer to use arms and legs to get stuff done.
Cant' believe how huge is that piece of them that so many people is giving to big companies just to be more lazy.
amazon is the real life watch dogs antagonist
Has this gotten better 5 years later?
I have a theory that netflix, amazon and hulu all obtain permissions on your phone... And use what they hear in people's everyday lives to create their shows. Of course the "all persons fictitious" disclaimer prevents it from being a thing... But believe me, its a thing.
That’s a common belief (listening in), but not true. All of these companies are able to learn a disturbing amount just from how we use their services and the meta data of who we call, text, what we buy, etc. It’s kind of crazy how well the can know us just from that.
We dont speak english at home so goodluck listening to our conversation lol
Dont worry, they understand Goa'uld too.
Same
I speak Mexican in home
That was really cool I must say.
Makes me think I can start communicating in Latin or Russian.
Never had one. Never felt the need to have one.....but that was still interesting.
Thanks for watching!
I moved early into Alexa and it was pretty good compared to others when it came out. It still seems to have problems that should be fixed by now, but they're not. Sigh, more e-waste to generate as I replace Alexa.
I jumped in early too. That’s why I advocate for buying platform agnostic gear where possible. It’s really hard though when companies like Amazon are virtually giving them away around the holidays. 😜
Well, I guess you just have to look at companies' business models. Do they make money with users' data? Google, Amazon and Facebook do. Apple - they don't (they're in hardware business). That's all you have to know, really.
Konstantin, I Canceled FB and Twitter accounts and I have more time, and I am happier.
Strange times we live in... We voluntarily bug our own private sanctuary with listing devices because we are to lazy to flick a switch or launch an app... And yes your smartphone is also listing in should you allow permissions to do so which most people do... Then we complain about how these modern day data farmers handle our private information...
Lazy cattle indeed lol.
But there is no reason not to use the technology available to us. And it is very cool technology.
It is just these middlemen that are the problem. If you cut them out there is nothing wrong with home automation.
4:30 Apple is also starting to have Siri do more stuff without having to send any audio data whatsoever. The only issue with this unfortunately is that Siri sucks compared to the other two :/
I might be an old man. When I was young, I told my grandfather about this new service (pre-internet) where you could pay your bills by phone, using the keypad. He says, “The day I can’t lick a stamp is the day I have bigger problems.”
With regard to these speakers, my thought is, “The day I can’t pick up my phone and tap the screen s few times is the day I have bigger problems.”
Ha! That’s pretty funny. Not a surprising point of view though. You’re not alone.
What they really are is smart microphones.
I did a test to talk about a (nonexistent) dog for 2 minutes. No dogs.
Hi Matt, I've just discovered your channel and am excited to dive into more of your videos. Would you say this still holds in 2023? Is Google the better choice for a smart speaker? I've been trying to avoid them for a while but the convenience is winning me over, and I want to invest in some smart home tech this year. Thanks in advance!
Glad to see you stumbled upon my channel! I don't really cover much on smart home tech on this channel these days, but am still an avid user (thinking of spinning up another channel dedicated to that). I think your mileage will vary on voice assistants. While Google is still the champ when it comes to features and answering random questions correctly, I actually just dropped all of my Google devices from my home. I was finding the Google Nest Hub Max getting worse at hearing me over time. Same with a smaller Google Nest device, so I gave up and am completely in Apple Homekit/Siri land for direct user interface (Home app on my phones/tablets and Siri for voice control). I think 2023 is going to be awesome for smart homes because of Matter. If you build out your home around products that already support Matter or will support it via a firmware update, you've got a lot of options. At that point you can mix and match your voice assistants and use whatever UI you want. I've been testing Matter supported products, or Thread products that will get Matter support, and am very hopeful for the year to come.
@@UndecidedMF thanks for the quick and detailed reply! I also think 2023 will be a huge year for smart homes and automation. We're an android family, so homekit won't work for us, but I think your recommendation to build up devices based around Matter makes loads of sense. I'm still undecided on a smart assistant though!
So are our phones...
this is nwo stuff, why would u use this?? I have no apps on my phone cause they spy on you and I don't have my smart TV connected to Web or use it smart features. My privacy is mine alone and I will protect it myself.
waiting for hell to freeze over...
I have an echo dot. I used it for one day. I discovered Alexa is an idiot. She was unable to play anything at all by a favorite music Artist of mine depsite it being right in front of her proverbial nose. I would ask, Alexa play a song by Seiko Oomori and she always asserted that such a song did not exist. I set one to play, and asked, Alexa name the Artist for the song currently playing. She replies, this song is by Seiko Oomori. I then said Alexa, play another song by Seiko Oomori. Alexa replies, I can't find any songs by Seiko Oomori. I might be paraphrasing a bit but not much. An AI you say. I think not. It's unplugged now and gathering dust. Amazon is an overgrown dime store to be sure but they have no technology to speak of, it seems. yikes. Yeah I know the S3 stuff works, but still.
in germany we say " setzt den aluhut ab du trottel" :-P
Ha!
I recieved a Amazon dot. I want to be safe and protected but I am not sure how I feel about these voice operated devices. I am doing the research weighing pros and cons
Awesome. Just awesome. You should have 1M subs.
I don’t know if I could handle 1M subs. 😜
So you don't approve of being recorded and having your data abused, yet as soon as it's concealed you switch the trust back on? The tos between the corporations are not that different.
I also find she doesn't respond when I ask her and she seems to know f*** all when I ask a question, I feel as though I should have invested in a Google hub. Because when I ask a question regarding a film or just something she just says "Sorry I don't know that"
And I cant believe that every video I've watched the word Alexa is beeped out
And sometimes my Alexa has responded to the TV but when you rewind the programme and do it again it doesn't do it a second time
Can the cops listen to you through Alexa if you unplug it? I know I was told that even if you turn your phone off the cops or government can still listen to what you are saying. If your smart/cell phone can still listen to you or someone else still can spy on you can that still happen even if you remove the power from the back of the Alexa mini smart speaker?
Bye Felicia
I am a huge fan of home automation but always wonder about my privacy and how it's being used. After watching your video, (great info BTW) I am thinking about phasing out Alexa and just use google as a primary voice assistant.
At lot of people are very uncomfortable with these devices, which I get. But knowing how the companies are handling our data and protecting our privacy is key. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want to make sure my privacy is properly protected, but also want all of the great benefits of a smart home. It can be done ... we just have to go in with our eyes open. And hold a companies feet to the fire if they’re not doing it right.
Thanks Matt. I have both google and alexa. I will keep "her" muted unless using.
Thanks for watching. That’s what some of my friends do too. It removes some of the convenience, but does keep you covered from the random eavesdropping.
Not even when hell freezes over. Never, ever. I even completely disable siri and other data collection on any mac I use, and have disabled any and all data collection in my Google account, with rechecks every few months. These companies can suck it until there's proper, enforced law surrounding this that favors the consumer, not the corporations. No facebook for me either. People are blind to what's going on but I'm not.
You're kidding right... What did you THINK they were doing.
Direct quote from my video, "I know and understand how these always listening devices work and have no problem with them, but the service I’m using better do a good job to ensure my private data remains private. Not just putting policies into place to make accessing my information against the rules, but also make it so employees simply can’t access it even if they wanted to."
I don't want to use Facebook but i'm tied to it by my friends and family. They are absolutely listening to me, the adverts I get are creepy specific when I know i've not even typed about it.
My friend with Alexa in a domotic house for some reason had his Amazon profile blocked. That cause he can't command his house. This Is unacceptable. For safety reason i think that an assistant must be under total control of the owner. Use Alexa or Google assistant only for infotainment.
I had my Alexa playing meditation from Pandora all night.
HOW ABOUT NEVER AGAIN!!
I tested her!
She stopped playing and listened!🤦🏽♀️
Ridicule me if you want , but I've never owned a cellphone, smart TV or anything else in this vein, got better sense