Smart speakers are a must-have for anyone looking to set up a voice-activated home – from listening to music and podcasts to controlling your latest connected devices, devices have become a household staple.
So much so, that in the first three months of 2022, more than 30 million were shipped worldwide, with Amazon accounting for around a third of them at the front of the race with its Alexa-enabled devices.
However VPN overview (opens in new tab) has uncovered some disturbing research suggesting your smart speaker is collecting more data about you than you might have originally thought.
Smart speakers are always listening
Smart speakers are always listening to you (unless you turn that feature off, which defeats the point), and they’re largely able to keep recordings or transcriptions of what you said to help developers to make them even more intuitive, but at what cost?
While Amazon, Google, and Apple all promise minimal data collection and high levels of security, many users will have third-party integrations enabled that allow them to interact with a range of services, from connected cars to food ordering apps and so on everything in between.
VPNOverview says that “some of these third-party capabilities are not thoroughly moderated,” which can open a gate for hackers, risking various leaks and hacks. activation of one VPN contributes in part to mitigating these risks.
Another concern from the company is that some smart speakers will be able to make online purchases directly on the device. It recommends setting up two-factor authentication (2FA) to authorize these transactions, but for many this again defeats the purpose of having an activated device at home.
Ultimately, it turns out that customers prioritize convenience over privacy in most use cases, rendering many of the measures companies are taking almost useless.
Google says it doesn’t store audio recordings on its servers by default. Amazon says its users can review and delete their voice recordings and transcripts, which are stored securely in its cloud. Finally, Apple says it only stores the minimum necessary data for six months. We asked all three companies for advice on what users can do to ensure the highest level of privacy when using smart speakers.
Apple referred us to his HomePod privacy and security (opens in new tab) Website, Amazon told us to look at these explanatory page (opens in new tab) And FAQ page (opens in new tab)and google sent us to his Privacy Information Page (opens in new tab) And Guide to actionable steps users can take (opens in new tab).
