IS IT AN ISSUE IF ALEXA GIVES MY DATA TO BIG BUSINESSES?
Mike Martin LLM Information Rights Law
Data Protection Consultant, Auditor and Trainer
Amazon’s Alexa is passing back gigabytes of users’ data to big businesses and, for the first time in a long time, users are more aware of it.
The rise of privacy invasion
Privacy invasions have made very popular news stories as of late, with huge companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook harvesting profits with their users’ data.
Whether it’s hidden microphones in devices (Google’s Nest Guard), unauthorised access to private messages (Facebook Messenger) or security apps that are siphoning off data (Onavo), news of these intrusions quickly make headlines and infuriate users.
Big data is big business and that means big money for these companies. When Facebook floated its shares, each user was valued at about $100 because of their data. And that means these intrusions are likely to get worse.
The worry with Alexa
Amazon’s Alexa has raised a number of concerns that are particularly troubling. Not only does Alexa listen constantly to all conversations but there has been evidence of mass recordings being taken from devices too. By putting in a subject access request (SAR), you will soon discover the amount of recordings your device has taken without direct permission.
The device has also been known to dial individual’s homes accidentally, if you ask for the current news it will choose what news it wants to give you (not a neutral opinion) and, on some older devices, an unknown voice on an answerphone message has activated Alexa.
Hacking is a serious problem both into your internal network and your computer, as is spying into our everyday activities. As many as three quarters of people now worry about the impact of privacy invasions, nine of out of ten want to control what personal data is collected, and nine out of ten also want tougher punishments for companies that violate their privacy.
What can be done?
Many of these smart hubs and voice recognition units were designed to gather data and feed it back to a central hub, helping to improve the product and understand the user better. Now that the products work from tiny processors within the home, there is no need for this central help. The next generation of devices should have enough understanding to give users more privacy.
Governments could also control product privacy by ensuring they meet a certain standard. For example, Apple locked all the data on their phones in an encrypted format, so there is no reason why personal domestic data should not be held behind a firewall in users’ homes and released only with informed consent.
With users being more worried about devices and more protective over their privacy, isn’t it time for Amazon to update Alexa accordingly?
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CEO at RegSol | Director | Presenter | PCF12 Head of Compliance | MLRO | Advocate | Award Winner
5 年I read the title as a rhetorical question! Good article though. Alexa scares the hell out of me so I won't be rushing to get one even if greater assurances are offered around 'containing' the data...
Founding Director at Arc Data, helping charities navigate the world of data
5 年A great article! ?I think the challenge is that whilst people are scared abut the use of their data, many just don't understand how their data is being collected and used; and in my experience it's not just the over 50's who don't get it, but even those savvy Millennials
Data Protection, AI and Technology Law Expert | PhD in Law | Research Coach | Former Lecturer in Law at UCL & University of Westminster London
5 年Very good article Mike! Alexa and “Any Alexa” will always give our data to companies. This is the whole point of their invasion anyway. The question is what the law makers do about it and whether the law will ever be able to catch up with all these IoT and AI technologies anyway..?