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Alexa in Marriott

Guess who's listening to you at your next hotel stay! :eek:

Amazon launches Alexa for Hospitality to put Echo devices in hotel rooms - Business Insider

I guess I will not have to stay at a Marriot ever again.

" The data collected from the devices is anonymized and won't be shared with the hotels..."

That means they're collecting data.

No thanks. If I ever see one of these in a hotel room I'm in, it will get unplugged.

Hey, another reason to not stay at Marriott!

They can be unplugged

The first thing I do in any hotel is unplug the alarm clock.

Can the same be done with these devices?

If not I will kindly take it to the front desk, or put it in the mini fridge for the duration of my stay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteremsley (Post 10079097)

Oh great. Hardly ever stay at Marriots, but I have enough trouble finding the light switch when arriving late, never mind an Alexa.

Perfect for you...just open the door and say "Alexa..turn on the light":D

With all the heat Amazon is experiencing with these and the FB debacle, what is the current risk?

Got one for Fathers Day/

What if your human spouse is named Alex or Alexa?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dantilla (Post 10079103)

" The data collected from the devices is anonymized and won't be shared with the hotels..."

That means they're collecting data.

My thinking is that it means they anonymized the info . . . to test their voice matching systems. Then check against your phone broadcast ID on to see if they got it right.

People are such voyeurs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by john70t (Post 10079273)

What if your human spouse is named Alex or Alexa?

You can change the action word to anything you want. I've heard of some fun names. The possibilities are endless.

Quote:

Originally Posted by john70t (Post 10079273)

What if your human spouse is named Alex or Alexa?

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard (Post 10079123)

They can be unplugged

That's what I'd do.

I'd be willing to bet that a few of these end up taking a bath.

The fun thing to do would be to put in a box with a speaker set that plays it all sorts of fun stuff. SmileWavy

You can just unplug it if it worries you... full disclosure, I worked on Alexa until earlier this year when I left Amazon. While all of my knowledge is confidential (i.e. I am not going to field any questions) I will just add the data point that I have several of these devices spread throughout my house including in my bedroom and my kid's room and I have zero concern about my family's privacy being violated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tishabet (Post 10080215)

Thank you for that. Taking off my tinfoil hat now...

Can you imagine the fallout if its discovered - and proven to be true - that a major corp like Amazon is eavesdropping on the homes of its customers? I just don't see it happening. Why would they take that risk?

Some of you (LOL most of you) are highly irrational.

BTW, if I'm a bad guy talking about building bombs and blowing up people and buildings, I probably am not going to have one of these in my abode.

My hope is that Amazon is recording everything I say and do so that I'll finally get the TV show everyone tells me I should have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion (Post 10080223)

For me the question is not why would Amazon or Google Or Apple turn on listening and risk the exposure, but why they would not?

There is a VAST (read: BIG MONEY) market for in the collected data that is gleaned from our online activities and the flip side of directed marketing. If anything has been consistent over the last few years is that the corporate world will take advantage of the trust the people place into them "doing the right thing" with regards to data gathering. This leads to an acceptance by us that some loss of personal privacy will be lost for the conveniences we realize. So when the stories break that corporations are mining data from and about us only comes as a minor shock to us. Now taking that next step, we allow an open microphone into our homes to have the immediate convenience or questions answered, music, dimming lights and of course commerce.

Well, speaking only for myself, I do not trust corporations to "do the right thing", at least by me. I also have no desire to be so intimately marketed to and by my choice will not have one in my home. Or in a hotel room I may be using.

Directly to you Motion, to dismiss me as "irrational" because of my thoughts do not agree with yours is simply embarrassing. Not to me but you. To be so judgemental as to dismiss my personal opinion as lacking rational thought, F*ck You. I am sure you will attempt to brush this off as a joke or maybe further dismiss me as being a liberal kook or whatever you need to say to justify your position. Good luck with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcsine (Post 10080970)

Directly to you Motion, to dismiss me as "irrational" because of my thoughts do not agree with yours is simply embarrassing. Not to me but you. To be so judgemental as to dismiss my personal opinion as lacking rational thought, F*ck You. I am sure you will attempt to brush this off as a joke or maybe further dismiss me as being a liberal kook or whatever you need to say to justify your position. Good luck with that.

Fair enough.

But, I'll stick by my assertion that peoples' propensity for believing in corporate spying, conspiracy theories and other un-proven phenomenon is irrational.

And, you need a little anger management help.