Ah, privacy. It’s a thing of the past. Or is it really just more like “times they are a-changin’”?
Google came under fire when they were outed by a contract employee for listening to audio recordings captured on Google Home Smart Speakers. They had no trouble admitting to the practice either. (1) The same happened at Amazon as well, as reported in Bloomberg in April of 2019. (2) Amazon, like Google, just shrugged. “Yup, that’s what we do.”
Conspiracy theorists have long been loud and proud with their assertions that Big Brother is watching, listening, and cataloging your every move. Taking that quiz to determine what kind of potato chip you are is unwise, and could have detrimental consequences to your privacy and security. They’re not necessarily wrong. But that’s not really what this is.
Stop The Leak
The unfortunate thing about this story isn’t really the sensational question of smart speakers spying on you. Someone violating their own agreement with Google and leaking recordings that were meant for their ears only… that’s an issue. It’s widely understood that the tech industry loves its NDAs, and maybe even goes too far with them. (3) It feels very scandalous to say we’re being spied on, but the real reason this story is on our radar is that someone stepped outside of their NDA with Google. They decided that Google acts inappropriately and took matters into their own hands.
On a basic level, machine learning is a process of introducing new information to a computer, piece by piece, with an “if this, then that” kind of logic. The computer learns by cataloging your array of examples and taking the action you’ve taught it. So if Alexa, or Siri, or whomever, needs to be able to order Bic pens for you, you’re going to have to show her how to order it. Or someone will, anyway. And since real people are going to be saying “So-and-so, order me some Bic pens”, in a variety of ways, she needs real examples to “hear” and “learn from.”
We love our gadgets, and the powers that be know that all too well. They want to give us what we want, but to some degree, it comes at the expense of our privacy. There’s never a better time than the present to get clear on the value of our own privacy. To some of us, our privacy is of immense value, and no interactive cylinder that can order Bic pens from our kitchen counter is going to entice us to let it go. For others, our privacy is of relative value. We don’t feel we have much to hide, and we love the idea of easy kitchen pen ordering.
Read The Terms Of Service
Getting clear on the value of your privacy is essential. It’s also important to read the Terms of Service (TOS) on everything before you hit “accept”. The TOS allows you to opt-out of a lot of things (for example being listened in on), but whoever actually reads them? Well if you don’t, that’s on you, unfortunately.
Essentially, this is a story about Google doing something they said they would. It’s about a worker with no scruples about violating their legal agreement with Google, and seemingly no understanding of why machine learning requires information capture, went ahead and compromised the whole mission.
Do smart speakers spy on you? No. They just gather information, exactly like they said they would.
