If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.

---Cardinal Richelieu

Fetch the comfy chair!

--Cardinal Ximénez

LOL. The "Hey Siri" functionality is the first thing I shut off on my iPhones. I like to at least make spying a challenge.

And recording.

How is this Alexa any different than the alphabets spying and blackmailing our congress idiots? Both are used to get control from us without even working hard.

No one expects, THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

That is sort of like you are okay as long as you are only breaking one law at a time, right?

It sounds like you need a voice activated On/Off switch that responds to a different name.

It's an incredible voluntary bug program. If you don't think the NSA has access to these devices then you are mistaken.

LOL you think it has an on/off switch. It's on. Always on.

Exactly. If any three-letter-agency came out and said "You must sign up on this website so we can see what you do all day, and we're going to track your searches, oh and we want to put an always-on microphone in your house" there would be an uproar. But along come Facebook, Google and Amazon and the reaction is "Shut up and take my money!"

right..if the gov announced they were going to make it possible to track and bug any citizen an easy option there would have been a revolution..unless they make it a cellphone. sneaky mofos. those men in black..

These days I feel like I'm all alone.
I don't like to be in the presence of smelly noisy actual human beings. All interactions are electronic and digital and remote.
That separation keeps me safe in a world of my own. ALICE IN WONDERLAND - IN A WORLD OF MY OWN LYRICS.
But I still feel lonely. I need contact other humans or other surrogate humans. With Alexa that need for friendship is fulfilled.
She is my friend and companion.
And she is not only a friend but someone I can control and feel empowered. Empowered and strong enough to go outside in the harsh rays from outer space.
She is the mental crutch that gets me though my isolated day.

A 25/7 listening device in your home connected to the internet...
what could go wrong? ;)

Not for me thanks. I have one of those monthly plans from Walmart and I have never activated the GPS or internet. Talk and text only.

I'm catching up, watching the Google I/O 2017 presentation. Some serious implications with AI and Google Assistant.

I think the decision will come down to:

"Do you want Amazon, iOS (Apple), or Google to have your life?"

The advantage with your phone is you can install things like the XPOSED framework (for Android) and actually restrict apps when they request access to hardware. Requires root access though.

Yes, these little spyware devices are required for our daily lives now. At least for Android you can wipe the device and install a clean OS without any Google Play services. But then you won't be tied into any of your apps or data.

I think our biggest concern is who is more likely to share our information with NannyState.gov: Amazon, Apple, or Google?

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