My neighbor's smart speaker recorded a full argument last Saturday

I was over at Mark's place in Portland 3 days ago and his Echo randomly blurted out our whole conversation about his divorce to an outsider. It picked up a trigger word from a TV show and sent a recording to one of his contacts. Has anyone else had a smart device share private stuff without permission?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_palmer441mo ago

Yeah but you said "all smart mics in a drawer" like that's the only answer... I've had smart speakers for years and never once had them record and send stuff without me knowing. My buddy left his Echo plugged in during a party and drunk people kept yelling "Alexa order pizza" and it just said it couldn't find any pizzerias nearby. I think people overreact to these things. The privacy settings are right there in the app, you can mute the mic with a physical button, and you can delete your voice history every week if you want. I just don't see how a device that only listens for one wake word is that big of a threat compared to what your phone already tracks 24/7.

mason_lopez1mo ago

Dude that singing story hits close to home. My own Google Home sent a 7 second clip of me arguing with my girlfriend about whose turn it was to do dishes to my brother last Christmas. I didn't even know it happened until he called me laughing his ass off. After that I started putting a piece of painter's tape over the mic when I'm having a serious talk. I don't think these things are malicious but they're definitely dumber than people give them credit for and that can cause just as much trouble.

miles_hall1mo ago

3 years back my own Google Home sent a 30 second clip of me singing off-key in the shower to my mom. I unplugged the thing and went full dumb speaker with a basic Bluetooth radio instead. Now I keep all smart mics in a drawer when I need real privacy and just connect them when I want hands-free music.