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    What I discovered when I asked Amazon to tell me everything Alexa had heard

    (www.theguardian.com)
    69 points robaato | 12 comments | 24 May 25 19:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.216s | source | bottom
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    threeducks ◴[24 May 25 19:53 UTC] No.44083409[source]▶
    > But we have two Echo devices in our household and the data shows whether a request came from the Echo Plus in the kitchen or the original Echo on our daughter Coco’s bedside table, where it has sat since around her ninth birthday. [...] So I now know that it was Coco who wanted to know what it is to be omnisexual and what omniscient means.

    Doesn't it feel wrong to the author to snoop through that private information? And publishing it in a news article definitely crosses a line.

    replies(6): >>44083537 #>>44083667 #>>44083719 #>>44083814 #>>44083873 #>>44083895 #
    1. thrance ◴[24 May 25 20:16 UTC] No.44083537[source]▶
    I mean, so is committing every sound ever heard through that microphone to a database used to train a voodoo doll of their daughter to better guess what she might be able to buy next.
    replies(1): >>44083825 #
    2. jxjnskkzxxhx ◴[24 May 25 21:11 UTC] No.44083825[source]▶
    Oh shit.... I never realized until now that's exactly what the point of Alexa is. I thought the point was like a different UI to Amazon. As in "being able to buy by clicking OR sounding must lead to a strictly larger number of sales than being able to buy by clicking only". So you can imagine my confusion on people telling me that Alexa isn't a good UI.

    Of course. The point is to snoop on people to make better "recommendations". Dystopian.

    replies(3): >>44083858 #>>44083870 #>>44084102 #
    3. techjamie ◴[24 May 25 21:18 UTC] No.44083858[source]▶
    It can be both. Saying "Alexa, buy eggs" is a lot quicker and easier than loading up Amazon, finding the eggs you like which will probably be the top result for you, and clicking buy (or even Buy Now). Instead, it already knows your preferences in eggs anyway, so just by telling it, you can impulsively buy the eggs without even stopping what you're doing.

    Then they get all that juicy "accidental activation" data on top of that.

    replies(3): >>44083888 #>>44084075 #>>44084114 #
    4. Flemlo ◴[24 May 25 21:20 UTC] No.44083870[source]▶
    That's not necessarily true.

    Amazon is also a ecosystem. Alexa shows you notifications from Amazon like the status of a delivery. It's able to call others (great for family).

    Amazon has also the fire kid tablet, fire TV etc.

    And if I already use Amazon anyway I'm quite happy if Amazon would recommend me good products I like.

    For plenty of things, Alexa is a very good UI.

    replies(1): >>44084248 #
    5. daveguy ◴[24 May 25 21:23 UTC] No.44083888{3}[source]▶
    If only Alexa could be trusted to buy something as seemingly simple as eggs.
    6. HPsquared ◴[24 May 25 22:04 UTC] No.44084075{3}[source]▶
    You'd just get eggs from whoever sponsored the term "eggs" the highest.
    7. cluckindan ◴[24 May 25 22:10 UTC] No.44084102[source]▶
    I thought this was obvious from the name. The phonetics of ”Alexa” are very close to sentences such as ”I like” and ”he/she likes”.
    8. kbelder ◴[24 May 25 22:15 UTC] No.44084114{3}[source]▶
    People buy eggs off Amazon? Every now and then the modern world boggles my mind.
    replies(2): >>44084592 #>>44087164 #
    9. wormius ◴[24 May 25 22:52 UTC] No.44084248{3}[source]▶
    "But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
    replies(1): >>44089053 #
    10. techjamie ◴[25 May 25 00:11 UTC] No.44084592{4}[source]▶
    I don't think so, but I needed something as an example and it was the first thing that came to mind. Also the idea of someone impulse buying eggs is amusing to me.
    11. vitus ◴[25 May 25 11:51 UTC] No.44087164{4}[source]▶
    Why not? Amazon owns Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh has existed for almost 20 years now.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBM7TZJ seems like a totally normal price to pay for eggs these days, although you probably wouldn't just buy a dozen eggs in isolation, given delivery fees and driver tip.

    12. Flemlo ◴[25 May 25 16:52 UTC] No.44089053{4}[source]▶
    It's easier to do things/ manipulate big brother when you are part of it.

    No one needs to know what else you do.

    It's a lot more suspicious to not tell big brother what he wants to hear.

    And besides that strategy, dystopian stories sell better. No one would read good feel descriptions.