Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

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Pete44ru
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Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Pete44ru »

.

A Portland, Oregon, family contacted Amazon to investigate after they say a private conversation in their home was recorded by Amazon's Alexa – the voice-controlled smart speaker – and the recorded audio was sent to the phone of a random person in Seattle, who was in the family’s contact list.

"My husband and I would joke and say, 'I'd bet these devices are listening to what we're saying,'" said Danielle, who did not want KIRO-TV to use her last name.

Every room in her family home was wired with the Amazon devices to control her home's heat, lights and security system.

But Danielle said that two weeks ago, the family's love for Alexa changed with an alarming phone call. "The person on the other line said, 'Unplug your Alexa devices right now,'" she said. "'You're being hacked.'"

That person was one of her husband's employees, calling from Seattle.

"We unplugged all of them and he proceeded to tell us that he had received audio files of recordings from inside our house," she said. "At first, my husband was, like, 'No, you didn't!' And the (recipient of the message) said, 'You sat there talking about hardwood floors.' And we said, 'Oh gosh, you really did hear us.'"

Danielle listened to the conversation when it was sent back to her, and she couldn't believe someone 176 miles away heard it, too.

"I felt invaded," she said. "A total privacy invasion. Immediately, I said, 'I'm never plugging that device in again because I can't trust it.'"

Danielle says she unplugged all the devices, and she repeatedly called Amazon. She says an Alexa engineer investigated.

"They said, 'Our engineers went through your logs, and they saw exactly what you told us; they saw exactly what you said happened, and we're sorry.' He apologized like 15 times in a matter of 30 minutes, and he said, 'We really appreciate you bringing this to our attention; this is something we need to fix!'"

But Danielle says the engineer did not provide specifics about why it happened or if it's a widespread issue.

"He told us that the device just guessed what we were saying," she said. Danielle said the device did not audibly advise her it was preparing to send the recording, something it’s programmed to do.

When KIRO-TV asked Amazon questions, the company sent this response:


"Amazon takes privacy very seriously. We investigated what happened and determined this was an extremely rare occurrence. We are taking steps to avoid this from happening in the future."

Amazon offered to "de-provision" Danielle’s Alexa communications so she could keep using its "Smart Home" features. But Danielle is hoping Amazon gives her a refund for her devices, which she said representatives have been unwilling to do. She says she’s curious to find out if anyone else has experienced the same issue.

"A husband and wife in the privacy of their home have conversations that they're not expecting to be sent to someone (in) their address book," she said.


Nuff said ! . :evil:


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.45colt
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by .45colt »

I love it !!! All these idiots who think this stuff is great deserve whatever they get. I bet they let delivery people in the house when their not home too. :lol: :lol: :lol:
HawkCreek
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by HawkCreek »

Only an idiot would think these things aren't listening all the time.
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fordwannabe
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by fordwannabe »

Uhmmm by their very nature they have to be listening all the time or they wouldn't pick it up when you say Alexa, blah blah blah. I don't understand that people, or should I say sheeple, didnt SEE that coming. Mrs fordwannabe asked about getting one and I was adamant, no bleeping way. We do say things in private that the whole world does not need to hear, just my job as an abuse investigator for the PA department of Health, means lots of my conversations with my COLLEAGUES are VERY CONFIDENTIAL. DUH.
a Pennsylvanian who has been accused of clinging to my religion and my guns......Good assessment skills.
stretch
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by stretch »

What HawkCreek said.

Seriously - you've gotta be an idiot to let something
like that into your home. NO privacy whatsoever.

-Stretch
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Blaine
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Blaine »

:lol: :lol:
All y'all realize you're on the internet, right? I "think" I have the mic turned off and I have black tape over the camera...wonder if that does any good? :roll:
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vancelw
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by vancelw »

And that satellite phone (that you didn't have a choice because it came in the "package") on your vehicle has a microphone.
We already know big brother can shut your car down remotely and unlock the doors.

No thanks.
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Blaine
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Blaine »

vancelw wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:19 pm And that satellite phone (that you didn't have a choice because it came in the "package") on your vehicle has a microphone.
We already know big brother can shut your car down remotely and unlock the doors.

No thanks.
Thankfully, my bare-bones '17 F250 xl doesn't have that....I think.
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Pete44ru
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Pete44ru »

BlaineG wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:24 pm
vancelw wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:19 pm And that satellite phone (that you didn't have a choice because it came in the "package") on your vehicle has a microphone.
We already know big brother can shut your car down remotely and unlock the doors.

No thanks.
Thankfully, my bare-bones '17 F250 xl doesn't have that....I think.
Yer dreamin' again, Blaine....... :roll:


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Blaine
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Blaine »

Pete44ru wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:06 pm
BlaineG wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:24 pm
vancelw wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:19 pm And that satellite phone (that you didn't have a choice because it came in the "package") on your vehicle has a microphone.
We already know big brother can shut your car down remotely and unlock the doors.

No thanks.
Thankfully, my bare-bones '17 F250 xl doesn't have that....I think.
Yer dreamin' again, Blaine....... :roll:


.
I'm willing to be proven wrong, but I didn't get that option.
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Rusty
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Rusty »

My bandwidth is so bad that there's no way I could use one of those, but considering how intrusive those things are I wouldn't want one. Anybody remember seeing 2001 A Space Odyssey? They had a computer named Hal.
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Griff
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Griff »

Not too surprising. May not watching... but certainly listening.
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Nath
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Nath »

All they would here in my house is moaning!
Me moaning about a whole range of subjects, the Mrs telling me to "shut up" or "give it a rest will ya", huge amounts of gas venting and snoring.
In fact, if ever I come across one of those devices I may just try some gas venting at close range to see how it copes!

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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Chilling thread!
Leverluver
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Leverluver »

If you worried about this (and you should be), think just as hard before buying one of those new "smart" TVs.
M. M. Wright
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by M. M. Wright »

Bought an old, (04) pickup and accidentally pressed a button the steering wheel. A female voice said, "What's the nature of your emergency sir?" Got it through an insurance pool so pretty sure no one was paying for OnStar any more.
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JimT
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by JimT »

Before I use the internet I put on a ski mask, pad my shirt so I look fatter (big job) ... take a slug of whiskey so my voice is changed a bit. Then I log on using my neighbor's wifi (if he has paid his bill). I also sprinkle salt all around the area where I am working on the computer and I burn 17 candles in order to ward off and attempts to see me via CIA remote veiwing. My computer room is specially grounded and the walls and ceiling are covered in tinfoil, though I am thinking that I may need to upgrade to a lead lining. I think I am missing something because black helicopters have been appearing in my area lately, though no over the property.
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Old Ironsights
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Re: Big Sister IS Watching YOU !

Post by Old Ironsights »

I totally believe it, but a link would be nice before I forward it.

While it makes total sense that an Alexa/Siri "on voice demand" device can and would do such, the "head in sand" crowd needs MSM "verification" before they believe anything...

(which is why we are doomed, but that's another issue)

Oh, and my mic is "off" from physical cut-out (plug a dead mic plug into the external mic jack) and I have tape over my screen camera... so... Bleah.
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