A German technology magazine is reporting that Amazon sent recordings made by its Alexa voice-activated assistant to the wrong user, raising fresh privacy concerns about the use of digital devices.
Amazon on Thursday confirmed what it described as "an unfortunate case that resulted from a human error," adding that it was an "isolated incident."
German computer magazine C'T reported that a user had asked Amazon to send him all of the data the company had stored on him. The man, who wasn't identified and who had never used one of Amazon's voice-activated assistants, received recordings made inside a stranger's home. This came to him in the form of a download link, which had his Amazon site usage history as well as these Echo recordings, which weren’t his.
Amazon said it has "resolved the problem with the two affected customers and taken measures to further improve our procedures." The company said it also reached out to data protection officials.
A report by Symantec earlier this year, highlighted the nitty-gritty of a smart speaker, its implications, and how this internet-enabled device could be misused, even by your kid.
Amazon has repeatedly claimed that its voice assistant service, Alexa whose data is recorded on the cloud, is safe and doesn’t violate privacy issues. Incidents like this clearly highlight the implications of owning such devices.
Technology like this has its flaws, but will never stop evolving. Despite that there will always be that one small-minded luddite who will find more ways to castigate the technology rather than find ways to make it better. But, what do normal people like us do? We find a way to be safer.
Currently, there is no way to be sure whether anybody is spying on your conversations or keeping a track of whatever you are saying to your virtual assistant device. But users with these devices need to be smarter and make sure that all their conversations are not heard by the device.
(With inputs from AP)
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