All these smart speakers can turn that on anytime processing and storing such a vast amount of data becomes viable. Not surprised. I don’t use any of these smart devices for exactly this reason.
I don’t need smart XYZ appliances that connect to the internet. After working a decade in the industry, I’ve seen enough of what these companies do with user data. No thank you.
Also, I don’t speak English at home. So that’s a hedge for now I guess.
> All these smart speakers can turn that on anytime processing and storing such a vast amount of data becomes viable. Not surprised. I don’t use any of these smart devices for exactly this reason.
The same is true for smart phones, yet almost nobody has an issue with those.
Not only could they listen at any time (albeit with lower quality), I put extremely personal information into my phone via the screen keyboard all the time. How is trusting the manufacturer to not transfer that information any more reasonable than trusting Amazon to not spy on me when they say they don't?
> The same is true for smart phones, yet almost nobody has an issue with those.
Let me just be the first to say I absolutely have an issue with smartphones.
(edit: Of course, I could very well count in the 'almost nobody' category, but the same might well be true in general for people concerned about smart devices.)
I also absolutely have an issue with smartphones and privacy.
But I'm also a pragmatist.
In my opinion Apple, while not even approaching being "perfect", are most likely to be the least worst of all practical options. 5 or 10 years back, I would have ranked Google's Pixel phones in 2nd, but not so much these days, if they're still 2nd they're a long long way back from 1st and only second because every other choice is so so bad. I used to buy Samsung phones back in the Galaxy S2 up to Galaxy S6 era, but they did so many bad-for-security things I no longer trust them with any of my data.
I don't trust any of the Chinese brand at all. Although I do have a few super inexpensive Chinese Android tablets that get used on a non internet connected subnet as home automation controllers. Even if they do manage to phone home, the only sensitive data they have is the private subnet wifi password and the always-on VPN endpoint through the router. I like to think (but cannot prove) that Chinese manufacturing hasn't managed to plant working backdoors in every iPhone they build, and that if they have targetted supply chain attacks for individual or small batches of devices that I'm not interesting enough to burn one of those on. I do sometimes wonder whether Jamal Khashoggi thought that too though...
I've "settled" with the level of security I believe my iPhone gives me. Partly because I long ago made peace with the fact that if a nation state security agency even became "interested" in my, I've already lost the game. I've given up trying to protect myself against the NSA or Mossad or the MSS or the FSB, or even "second tier" security agencies like my local ASIS. I do what I can to make it hard for adversaries like organised crime, scammers, script kiddies, and surveillance capitalists, and I'd like to think I've done enough that law enforcement (short of ASIS) probably can't access data on my devices via technical means (while knowing full well they have the capability to ruin my life if I refuse to hand over password and decryption keys).
> How is trusting the manufacturer to not transfer that information any more reasonable than trusting Amazon to not spy on me when they say they don't?
Probably because phone manufacturers have historically not done things as bad as Amazon has privacy-wise.
Soft Welsh accents are really good for robots, because they combine the sort of officious, authoritative British English accent with a folksy, approachable quality. Then they wait for you to go to sleep…and with a lilting brogue glancing faintly off the meniscus of your dreams you hear, “Ay, oi, Dave! They’re out, it’s time.” and that’s how the world ends. A Welsh-accent LLM named “Dave” decides sheep husbandry is the maximally productive utility for the Earth and Solar System. Humanity is lost. Dave the AI companion from Swansea and a trillion sheep remain.
They can technically store, but not always legally, since storage may be in violation of their privacy policy. For example, Apple won't store the audio, unless you opt in [1].
A relative’s doctor’s practice just got acquired by one of these private-equity-backed profit-hungry medical chains.
I went with him to an appointment. As a condition of checking in to see his doctor, on a silly tablet at the office, he had to sign away his HIPAA rights for them to sell his charts, along with his identity information, to advertisers or any other third parties. I was beside myself.
Wasn’t long afterward before he started seeing insultingly specific (but medically incorrect) prescription drug ads, almost exclusively, on his TV service.
> As a condition of checking in to see his doctor, on a silly tablet
As with QR codes in restaurants, reception tablets with NDA boilerplate, or electronic security scanners, declining to use an electronic device can lead to the magical appearance of a manual alternative, where lines of text on paper can be crossed out manually before signing and taking a photo for your records.
This is because the consent (of 99% who will not decline) is only valid if the 1% who choose to decline can actually do so. If everyone is forced and it's literally impossible to decline consent, then none of it is consent, and they may as well omit the text and do whatever they want anyway. The act of asking consent for ridiculous terms is actually quite positive, if one ignores the implied pressure of a silicon wrapping.
Well, they can always refuse service, but now their refusal is linked specifically to the crossed-out lines, an action that can lead to various paths. If the deleted lines are known by them to be overreaching, they are economically better off to provide service and earn revenue, instead of losing 100% of revenue and appointment slot to a minor technicality worth much less.
the way it works with a contract, you can always choose to remove clauses - but the other party has to agree to it too. they might acquiesce if for example, they think denying you service might actually lead to a lawsuit that would point out their illegal behaviour.
Healthcare providers or institutions may require a patient to sign certain forms related to the treatment or payment process (like consent forms for treatment or payment authorization), but these forms cannot waive the patient's fundamental rights under HIPAA. If a patient feels coerced into signing anything, they can refuse or ask for clarification before signing. If they don't want to sign, it shouldn't prevent them from receiving care, although certain administrative procedures (like billing or insurance claims) might be impacted.
All these smart speakers can turn that on anytime processing and storing such a vast amount of data becomes viable. Not surprised. I don’t use any of these smart devices for exactly this reason.
I don’t need smart XYZ appliances that connect to the internet. After working a decade in the industry, I’ve seen enough of what these companies do with user data. No thank you.
Also, I don’t speak English at home. So that’s a hedge for now I guess.