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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 23 2018, @08:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the Alexa,-order-two-tons-of-creamed-corn.-Alexa-confirm-order dept.

Gizmodo has an article up that The Amazon Alexa Eavesdropping Nightmare Came True

A German Amazon user requested data about his personal activities under the EU's General Data Protection (GDP) regulation.

This individual owned no Alexa devices, but still received over 1700 recordings of what were purportedly his commands.

Some of the files reportedly related to his Amazon searches. But according to the report there were also hundreds of Wav files and a PDF cataloging transcripts of Alexa’s interpretations of voice commands. According to c’t magazine

The recordings revealed the victims’ personal habits, jobs, taste in music, schedule, alarms, social life, and even caught him showering.
The recordings were not of the recipient's voice nor anyone he recognized. When he contacted Amazon, he received no response (other than the link to the file going dead). He then contacted C't Magazine.

Using the information they gathered from the recordings, the magazine contacted the victim of the data leak. He “was audibly shocked,” and confirmed it was him in the recordings and that the outlet had figured out the identity of his girlfriend. He said Amazon did not contact him.

When asked for comment by Gizmodo

Amazon sent Gizmodo the same statement it had shared with Reuters. “This was an unfortunate case of human error and an isolated incident. We have resolved the issue with the two customers involved and have taken steps to further improve our processes. We were also in touch on a precautionary basis with the relevant regulatory authorities.”

While not a common type of mistake, inappropriate sharing of conversations and recording is also hardly unheard of. For example a Portland woman found her Echo had sent a recorded conversation between her and her husband to one of his employees.

As a reminder, you can delete your Amazon Echo recorded history or just parts of it should you wish to do so, as described here.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:50AM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:50AM (#777986)

    Washington post is the worst out of all the "anonymous officials said" sites.

    Its not uncommon to see stuff like "an unnamed official speculated that what a source whose identity will be kept anonymous leaked to a random twitter user could mean ORANGE MAN BAD".

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:06AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:06AM (#777989)

    Why would someone supposedly smart in business buy into what pretty much everyone considers an unprofitable industry? Unless he wants to drive public opinion to his benefit.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday December 24 2018, @02:47AM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday December 24 2018, @02:47AM (#778001) Journal

      Revolution at The Washington Post [cjr.org]

      IS IT AN UNDERHANDED COMPLIMENT to be called the most innovative company in the newspaper business? The Washington Post will happily take it. In the three years since Amazon’s Jeff Bezos bought the Post for $250 million—now seen as a steal for one of the great brands in publishing—the Post has reinvented itself with digital speed. Its Web traffic has doubled since Bezos arrived, and it far outstrips The New York Times (and even BuzzFeed) in the number of online posts its reporters file every day. So successful has the Post become in the digital game that it now licenses its content management system to other news outlets, a business that could generate $100 million a year.

      The Washington Post's Turnaround Shows Amazon's Success Is No Accident [fool.com]

      When Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million, he turned a lot of heads.

      Many asked: "What could Bezos want with one of the nation's foremost broadsheets in an era when the newspaper business is saddled with losses? Would it lead to mass layoffs, or distract him from Amazon?"

      Nearly four years after the deal was first announced, the answers to those questions are clear. Bezos has turned the Post into a healthy, growing business, and instead of laying off employees, the company has expanded. And as the explosion in Amazon stock -- up around 220% in that time -- clearly shows, Bezos's first concern hasn't suffered.

      Why Jeff Bezos Bought The Washington Post [forbes.com]

      I was interested to watch a recent interview of Jeff Bezos, who similarly bought the Washington Post in 2013. In the course of the discussion, Bezos articulated the thought process that motivated his purchasing decision, a decision he broke into a two-part framework.

      [...] Bezos didn’t want to purchase it simply to slow the institution’s death if it was fated to fail. He wasn’t planning on providing operational hospice care for the Washington Post. Instead, he realized, he had to believe there was a pathway to recovery.

      “I wanted [to be able] to look in the mirror and be sure I was optimistic that it could work. If it were hopeless that would not be something I would get involved in. I looked at that and I was super optimistic. It needed to translate to a global and national publication.”

      Bezos drew his optimism from one simple fact. The internet destroyed most advantages newspapers had built. But it did offer “one gift: free global distribution.”

      With Bezos's help, The Post developed a new strategy to “take advantage of that gift.” They implemented a new business model. The old model relied on generating a high revenue per reader. Their new focus would forego revenue per reader in favor of acquiring more readers. In other words, a volume play.

      Early signs of success indicated the strategy was working. The Washington Post was quick to post profitability and a growing newsroom.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:54AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:54AM (#778005)

        it far outstrips The New York Times (and even BuzzFeed) in the number of online posts its reporters file every day

        This wouldn't be hard when you can just create an anonymous source whenever you want...

        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday December 24 2018, @03:09AM (2 children)

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday December 24 2018, @03:09AM (#778009) Journal

          As a humble AC, you should have no problem with anonymous sources being used.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @03:20AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @03:20AM (#778011)

            No one should ever trust anything an AC says unless they can verify it for themselves. Or any non-AC either.

            • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday December 24 2018, @03:55AM

              by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 24 2018, @03:55AM (#778018) Journal

              Also, i wouldn't use the word 'humble' for most of them :-p

              --
              В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @02:50AM (#778002)

      Washington Post:

      "Reports are coming in from sources in the know that a sticky note was seen on Trump's desk saying "You're fired", possibly referring to Fed Chairman Jerome Powel. Our sources have said this ORANGE MAN BAD- caused event would cause a stock-market crash.

      [Claiming that firing Powel for raising interest rates will lead to lower stock prices means the biggest sheeple shearing in history is planned]