4 Artificial Intelligence in Technology: How digital assistant advices can pose a threat to our personal information

Alexa VS. Personal Privacy

Released in 2013, Amazon’s virtual assistant technology, Alexa has the capability of voice interactions, setting alarms, making to-do lists and providing many other aspects of real time information. The way people interact with Alexa as a virtual assistant most often is through the Amazon Echo devices. Using automatic speech recognition and algorithms, Alexa can perform these tasks. For the device to be activated, a wake word as in “Alexa” can be said. Since the initial release, Amazon announced they have sold over 100 million Alexa-powered devices. While Alexa can assist in many aspects of our lives, there comes downsides to having automated intelligence within our homes. The question I wondered was at what point do digital assistants like Alexa become too intrusive on an individual’s private life? Digital assistance devices like Alexa become too intrusive when they are complicit in leaking individuals’ private information. The fact that Alexa is always listening can be a scary thought as you never know what could happen with that information whether it has to do with medical information, finances or regular day to day information. Users become very vulnerable by having these smart speakers in their homes in the first place but risk a higher rate of vulnerability by interacting in conversations with and in front of their device. There needs to be more regulation when it comes to how these AI enabled devices collect and store personal information as well as these companies being more transparent with their customers about what happens with these recordings.

A “home” is where one tends to feel comfortable and safe. Being able to do what you want and say what you want, without the outside world being involved. However, when it comes to Amazon’s digital assistant device, Alexa users have reported feeling like the device is liable to listen in on private conversations unexpectedly . “Sometimes there’s Amazon workers tuning in as well, the company confirmed on Thursday,” ABC’s Soo Youn wrote. When turned on, Alexa is always listening even without the ‘wake word’ being mentioned. With all the countless of things Alexa can do, it listens to what the users discuss in conversations and then taking that information, the device can then build a profile for the users by using algorithms and can use it to their advantage for digital advertising. In the article, “How Google and Amazon Are Spying on You”, published on Consumer Watchdog’s site, interviewee John Simpson states, “You might find them useful sometimes, but think about what you’re revealing about yourself and your family, and how that information might be used in the future, (www.consumerwatchdog.org). With our lives becoming more and more technology based, it is also becoming easier to be hacked if one does not have the proper security. Even then, with good security, people who use digital assistants within their households are still taking the risk of information being hacked while everything floats in a cloud. With hackers potentially gaining access to all the information that has been gathered on one’s Alexa device, could create much more damage in the long run. “A flaw in Amazon’s Alexa smart home devices could have allowed hackers access to personal information and conversation history, cyber-security researchers say,” (www.bbc.com)

With the use of smart speakers, we run the risk of vulnerability. We become vulnerable to these devices as they’re always listening. When it comes to televisions and computers, users are aware when they are turned on as a screen is broadcasted. However, unlike televisions and computers, when it comes to these digital smart speakers, they are not turned off until they are unplugged from the outlet, meaning they are most likely always turned on. In the article, “Alexa Privacy Fail Highlights Risks of Smart Speakers” Ethan Sacks discusses an incident with an Oregon family and the use of their Amazon virtual devices. Her private conversation was recorded and sent to a random contact in Seattle, creating mass concern behind the vulnerabilities of these devices. In an interview with Rebecca Herold, CEO of the consulting firm Privacy Professor states, “In this case, relaying only the word ‘Alexa’ can get the digital assistant to start communicating and acting,” Herold said. “It’s the security equivalent of using a computer password that’s 1-2-3.” While the word “Alexa” is very quick and easy, it is not asking for much to get the attention of the device, which has been seen to cause problems. The Portland Oregon family received a “nightmarish” phone call, warning them to turn off their Amazon devices instantly, as the person on the other line believed they were being hacked. KIRO 7, a news station that covers Seattle and western Washington state reported that one of the devices in the family’s house had recorded a conversation held between the family members and without the permission by the family, sent out this conversation to a random contact in the husbands contact list. Amazon responded to this incident by stating that the Amazon Echo woke up when it heard something like “Alexa”. “The subsequent conversation was heard as a ‘send message’ request,” (www.washingtonpost.com). What is concerning is how easily the device can interpret one word, as another, even potentially multiple times. A computer scientist professor at Georgetown University, Wenchao Zhou discussed in the Washington Post article how the Oregon story demonstrates how wrongly machines can interpret human voices. He also discussed how easily these voice assistants can misinterpret background conversations as commands.

Cybersecurity is becoming more and more concerning as these digital devices keep coming deeper and deeper into our lives. The presence of an Echo device within a household poses a genuine cybersecurity threat that homeowners should factor into their overall assessment of home security. Daniel Khan Gillmore, a staff technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union’s, Speech, Privacy and Technology project states, “The Amazon Echo, despite being small, is a computer — it’s a computer with microphones, speakers, and it’s connected to the network,” he said. “These are potential surveillance devices, and we have invited them further and further into our lives without examining how that could go wrong. And I think we are starting to see examples of that.” These little devices are capable of doing so much ‘behind the scenes’.  With increasing stories about incidents involving the Alexa, researchers are advising users to regularly delete their voice history on the device. Even when regularly deleting a conversation log, are they really actually gone? I know it might give a greater sense of safety, but when things go into a cloud, it is hard to know if things are actually deleted or not. Researchers from the cybersecurity firm Check Point released a report explaining security issues they’ve come across with Amazon’s Alexa and how the devices can allow potential hackers to get a person’s conversation log from the speaker along with being able to install skills on the device without the user even knowing. These researchers from Check Point state they frequently see issues with Alexa, for instance, “like a stranger yelling to unlock your door or a laser pointer being able to activate your device from 300 feet away,” (www.cnet.com). So not only are hackers able to construct damage near the home where the device is, but also away from the device. Depending on how long a person has had the device and how many times voice logs have been deleted, there could be information sitting in the devices cloud regarding finances, health information, or just regular day to day conversations which all could lead to great disaster if accessed.

Overall, there have been numerous instances where personal information has been leaked due to these smart speakers and the complexity behind them. While the use of technology continues to increase and advance, the security of these devices is vitally important to keep up with. With more than 100 million Alexa powered devices sold, it is evident they are so common in our lives, and it is so easy to overlook the complexity behind them and all that they can do and how much information they hold. Personal information is called personal for a reason and if control is not taken to ensure the safety of these individuals and their information, we are going to see a large issue in trust.

Works Cited

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2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53770778.

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Sacks, Ethan. “Alexa Privacy Fail Highlights Risks of Smart Speakers.” NBCNews.com,

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https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/alexa-privacy-fail-highlights-risks-smart-spea

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Shaban, Hamza. “An Amazon Echo Recorded a Family’s Conversation, Then Sent It to a

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