By Sylvie Stone
Smart homes powered by Internet-connected devices are the future and continue to gain popularity. You can now control your security cameras, refrigerator, door locks, lights, thermostats, sprinklers, and much more at the touch of a button. But is it worth the risk?
Amazon Echo and similar devices offer a whole world of convenience by turning your home into a smart home by powering multiple Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The convenience that these devices offer is a huge selling point for today’s consumer blinding them to the privacy and security risks involved.
The sale of smart devices continues to soar, however, there are questions whether this trend will continue after an eye-opening report revealed that Amazon employs thousands of people the world over to listen to recordings captured by Echo devices in user’s homes and offices.
Amazon claims that its aim is improving user experience by eliminating gaps in the voice assistants understanding of human speech especially when slang and regional colloquialism is used. This is achieved by transcribing and annotating these recordings before feeding them back into the software enabling the device to better respond to commands.
The Home Automation Systems Privacy Conundrum
Amazon, in its privacy policy, doesn’t explicitly state that employees and contractors could be listening to recordings of conversations picked up by Alexa. These recordings sent to human reviewers may not provide the user’s full name and address but are associated with an account number, the user’s first name, and the device’s serial number.
Apple’s Siri also uses human reviewers to determine if the outcome matches the initial request. However, Apple does not store recordings with personally identifiable information.
Google also uses humans to review their recordings, but they also don’t store audios with information that could identify an individual.
Who Bear’s The Responsibility?
Companies that manufacture IoT devices agree that their products collect data. Most store data on the device; however, it’s also common for data to be stored in the cloud. Solution providers need to take the necessary steps to ensure all data they collect is secure and private no matter where it’s housed.
In the recent past, Facebook has been involved in a controversy on retaining information of about 87 million Facebook users. In light of this, consumers have become more cautious of data collecting technologies on devices and platforms. Before consumers install smart devices into their homes and offices, they need to be sure that their personal information and data will be secure. Manufacturers need to do more on the privacy and security of their devices since consumers need reassurance that they won’t inadvertently give malicious actors access to their personal data and information.
