Listen to this. I don’t know much about Tiktok, but a Tiktok user @my.data.not.yours, requested her personal data from Amazon. She said she has three Amazon smart speakers, and her house contains smart light bulbs.
Eventually, she downloaded the zip file and a ton of folders showed up. She said she was not only scared but uncomfortable with the data she found. Amazon had recorded almost 4,000 audio files from the privacy of her home. In addition, they have a full list of contacts saved to her phone but never synced, and of course, her exact location.
Like I said, she said she was scared and uncomfortable; I think most of us would be.
And of course someone makes the comment, “Can someone explain to me why this is scary? I’m not interesting enough to care if they have my contact or audio.”
To the young female, I would like to say I agree with her reaction. It is scary, and although I don’t think Amazon has audio files of my conversations, I am uncomfortable with my mobile device having my exact location and tracer. Everywhere I go my phone logs in the data. Every route, every store, and every stop. No one should have that information.
To the person who made the comment, I would like to first ask why he’s challenging the female. If she’s scared and uncomfortable, that’s how she feels. She feels that way because her privacy has been invaded. Why does Amazon need to have her conversations on file, or need to know when she tells someone to put the light on? It’s an overreach, it’s an invasion of privacy, and it’s just a little creepy.
I don’t know how you wouldn’t at least be uncomfortable with someone having full access to your contact list and location. They know who you talk to and where you are. Why do they need to have access to that information?
He probably works for Amazon, but I’ll let that go for now. The bigger issue is that these are the types of issues that people are waking up to. You wake up one day and realize you’re being violated in every way.
What can I say besides these are the times we live in. One day, god-forbid if another event happens in this country like 9/11, what do you think is going to happen?
Oh you thought your information was safe because Amazon is a private company? Well, so was Verizon, but that didn’t stop the government from forcing them to hand over private information; call logs, and text messaging recordings of millions of customers. In the name of national security, they’ll subpoena Amazon and their customer audio files.
And I wouldn’t expect Jeff Bezos to defend the privacy of your information.
Do we have to now be silent in our own homes? I guess, if want smart devices.
The original article was written by Charlotte Edwards of the Sun and published on the New York Post.
Nooz Buffet 