We’ve all
been there. Asking Alexa embarrassing questions we wouldn’t dream of asking a
real human being. If like me, you’re a little mortified at the idea of someone ‘playing-back’
all of your blonde moments to an entire room, might be worth Googling them instead in future!
Recent reports
say that Amazon staff regularly listen to customers Alexa recordings. They
claim it helps them gather data on what things are most searched for and also helps them improve their voice recognition technology.
Probably best not to show this article
to any teenage boys living in your house, they’re probably going to be a little
red-faced.
If you’re a
little embarrassed about what Amazon may have discovered in your search history,
you may also feel like your privacy has been violated. But technically you gave
them permission to do this when you purchased their device.
Amazon
maintains that they use these recordings to improve their voice recognition
systems. They claim that customer privacy is of the utmost importance to them. They
also say they only annotate a small sample of recordings if they think it can
help them with the development of the technology.
So, they only make notes on some of the
recordings they have… do you feel comforted yet?
They do try
to redeem themselves by saying that they have very strict safeguards in place
and that employees do not have access to information that would identify the
user or the account.
Amazon are tech Gods (let's be honest) and have the power to put systems in place where systems automatically record searches on a data sheet, instead of requiring employees to listen in on private thoughts and questions.
If they really wanted to improve voice recognition services why not hold focus groups and have an "opt-in" service where customers consent to recordings being listened to?
As a result
of these recordings being ‘monitored’ sometimes employees hear things they shouldn’t,
most of the time these are bank details or other personal data.
Two
employees reportedly told a large publication in the US that they heard a sexual
assault on one of these recordings. The company allegedly told them not to report anything as it wasn’t “their
place to get involved”.
Whose place is it then? Who is going to get involved here?
How do you feel now?
Honestly, I
was uncomfortable with the idea of all of the embarrassing things we search for or ask
our devices being listened to. I am unsettled that some Amazon employees may be walking around
with my bank details, but I am completely disgusted at the thought of someone
stumbling across the recording of a sexual assault and doing nothing about it.
That poor victim could have evidence against a predator recorded on one of Amazon’s
servers and they are potentially keeping it to themselves! They have already listened in on our private information, the damage has already been done, so why can’t they hand this critical information
over to the police?
Why couldn't they attempt to redeem themselves?
Is it
because the owner of the device could be their customer? Is one customer’s
money more important than giving up a potential rapist?
I want to
hear your thoughts on this, leave your comments in the box below or inbox us
with your feelings!
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