If You Care About Privacy, Throw Your Amazon Alexa Devices Into the Sea

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we learned that humans were monitoring Amazon Alexa commands, essentially spying on users in the name of product improvement? Well, we’ve got some more bad news about the always-on microphone that we’ve all invited into our homes. Employees at Amazon can “easily” discover any user’s home address.

The report comes from unnamed Amazon employees who talked with Bloomberg News about the distressing situation:

Team members with access to Alexa users’ geographic coordinates can easily type them into third-party mapping software and find home residences, according to the employees, who signed nondisclosure agreements barring them from speaking publicly about the program.

Bloomberg makes clear that there haven’t been any reports of Amazon employees or contractors actually abusing this power and tracking down users at home. But they say that this backend feature gives employees “unnecessarily broad access to customer data.” . . .

The Amazon Alexa technology really is one of the perfect products for our era. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and it’s a privacy nightmare that serves as a constant reminder of the fact that we live in a techno-dystopia of our own making. If you still have an Alexa or any other voice assistant in your home, you were warned. If you haven’t tossed your Echo into the sea by now, that’s on you. Because Silicon Valley clearly has no interest in honoring your privacy. (Read more from “If You Care About Privacy, Throw Your Amazon Alexa Devices Into the Sea” HERE)

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