The company declined to do so, but the case raises bigger questions about Internet of Things (IoT) privacy.
By Billy Steele
December 27, 2016
A note from Pastor Kevin Lea follows this article.
Amazon’s Echo devices and its virtual assistant are meant to help find answers by listening for your voice commands. However, police in Arkansas want to know if one of the gadgets overheard something that can help with a murder case. According to The Information, authorities in Bentonville issued a warrant for Amazon to hand over any audio or records from an Echo belonging to James Andrew Bates. Bates is set to go to trial for first-degree murder for the death of Victor Collins next year.
Amazon declined to give police any of the information that the Echo logged on its servers, but it did hand over Bates’ account details and purchases. Police say they were able to pull data off of the speaker, but it’s unclear what info they were able to access. Due to the so-called always on nature of the connected device, the authorities are after any audio the speaker may have picked up that night. Sure, the Echo is activated by certain words, but it’s not uncommon for the IoT gadget to be alerted to listen by accident.
Police say Bates had several other smart home devices, including a water meter. That piece of tech shows that 140 gallons of water were used between 1AM and 3AM the night Collins was found dead in Bates’ hot tub. Investigators allege
To read this article in its entirety, go to: https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/27/amazon-echo-audio-data-murder-case/
Note from Pastor Kevin Lea: The government has been busy supporting their partners in crime corporations as they come up with gadgets that we buy and put in our homes so they can spy on everything we say or do. Listening dolls, Pokemon-go application, Echo, smart TVs, etc. are all capable of watching and or listening to everything going on in your house.
I love the line in this article that says, “Sure, the Echo is activated by certain words, but it’s not uncommon for the IoT gadget to be alerted to listen by accident.” I can hear the government in the not-to-distant Orwellian world saying, “It was an accident that Amazon Corporation has a recorded database of everything that was ever said near the Echo, but since it did, we would like to ask you some questions about your attitude towards the government that you vocalized during Christmas dinner. Could you please come with us?”
The following article relates:
Watchdog Discovers Toy Dolls Are Recording Your Conversations and Uploading Them to Police
December 12, 2016
by Claire Bernish