Thursday, December 29, 2016

Home Invasion? Domestic Violence? Shout "Alexa" (before "help") for Documentation

Can amazon echo be used against you in a court of law? Have you ever wondered if “Alexa” is really spying on you?

Homicide investigators in Arkansas want Amazon to hand over a potential suspect’s “echo” transcripts. Brad Young of Harris-Dowell and Fisher Law Firm says Amazon has so far refused two requests.


“Amazon’s position is, is that the echo only records 60 seconds of information and then writes over if for the next 60 seconds,” Young says. “So, their position is that it would only have 60 seconds of information.”

However, when you ask your Echo a question, it is saved by Amazon as well as by Apple when you query Siri. Young says his legal personal opinion is that there is an expectation of privacy for things that are said – not queried.

“….when you ask Echo ‘Find what’s the best way to dispose of a dead body’ if that were the question, that information is saved,” Young says. “That information is available if it is a query posed to a device.”

Companies say it’s encrypted and no one can access it. Young says this has become a completely new “legal territory.” more additional info

Seriously, Alexa could become an omnipresent digital ear-witness. ~Kevin