This is what happens when there is a spy in the house – La Vanguardia

“Avoid having confidential work conversations near digital home assistants or smart speakers (for example, Alexa or Google Home), as these may record what you say and share it with your parent company.” In this way, the Irish Government has alerted its politicians and workers of the danger to their privacy if they decide to let an object as common as a smart speaker into their homes. Technology often inspires ambivalence. “We know that the business of some multinational companies is in our data, but we accept any privacy policy without even reading it in order to benefit from a service,” starts Jordi Serra, professor of Computer Science at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and cybersecurity researcher And he adds: “The same goes for our comfort. If we prefer the privilege of opening the lights for us instead of doing it ourselves, we must accept that they invade part of our privacy. Mistrust Ireland advises its politicians to be discreet around smart speakersSmart speakers are an everyday presence in many homes. They appear as a tool that makes our lives easier. They are marketed as a personal assistant that, captivated by our voice, obeys everything we order: play our favorite music, shop online, sing the latest news or raise the blinds when waking up. Amazon has its Alexa and its Echo; Google, your Home; Apple, its HomePot, and so on a long list of a market that continues to grow and aspires to have 8,000 million devices in our homes next year. The official statement received by Irish politicians, accessed by the Business Post newspaper, reopens the debate on the dark side of these devices. People who see them as sinister and invasive see enthusiasts as carefree, while those who see them as helpful and affable see skeptics as paranoid. However, anyone who owns a speaker or a smartphone, posts on social media, or otherwise interacts with the digital world has probably experienced strange coincidences. Devices are part of our daily lives The Washington Post/Getty Images “Digital assistants are constantly listening to us,” says Josep Domingo Ferrer, professor of Computer Engineering at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) and director of the Cybersecurity Research Center of Catalonia (CyberCat). There are, however, some nuances in the statement. It is true that these devices hear everything we say, as recognized by the proprietary companies, although they ensure that the conversations are only recorded when we pronounce an activation word, be it “Alexa”, “Echo” or “Hey, Google”. Like any website or mobile application, speakers collect information about how we interact with them, what things we ask them, what words we use or what devices we control with it. But experts point out that devices like Alexa or Google Home go further. Governments could have access to our private information” Josep Domingo-FerrerProfessor of computer engineering at the URV and director of CyberCat “The system is more intrusive than the companies themselves admit,” says Serra. Several investigations in 2019 revealed that the The company has an army of employees who listen and transcribe conversations recorded by the devices.The computer scientist points out that the company claims to carry out this listening to improve the system, but does not rule out that “it also detects keywords for commercial and advertising purposes”. Vanguard A virtual assistant can know how many people live in a household (by its ability to distinguish voices), whether or not they are at home, when they come in or out, if they watch TV, if they like to cook, what products they buy or if they they have a security system (if linked), among many other things, all from what you hear inside the walls of the ho gar and the interactions it has with those who live in it. “This information is a gold mine for companies and the interests of their respective businesses,” says Serra. The European Data Protection regulation prohibits leaking personal information” Martí ManentLawyer, founder and CEO of Derecho.com Although, theoretically, the loudspeaker does not start recording until a command is pronounced, it is relatively common for it to be activated by mistake in the voice recognition system. For example, if a family member is nicknamed Alex and we order him to clear the table, the virtual assistant Alexa will probably believe that we are addressing him. He will not clear the dishes, but will record what is say thereafter. Also, voice assistants sometimes do things they’re not supposed to. One of the most high-profile was the case of a woman in Portland, United States, who discovered that her speaker had sent recordings of conversations private messages to a co-worker of her husband without their knowledge.In a statement, Amazon said the device misheard the wake word, misheard the request to send the message, misheard the name in her contact list and then misheard the confirmation to filter everything. This is not an isolated case and there are several users who have reported these “unfortunate mishaps”, according to the company, which claims to “take the privacy of all its customers very seriously”. Within homes Experts suggest taking precautions to protect our privacy “European citizens are protected by the general Data Protection regulation. The regulation, which has been applied since 2018, prohibits the leaking of any personal information without consent”, points out Martí Manent, lawyer, founder and CEO of Derecho.com. There are, however, some exceptions. “If we contract a service, the supplier has the right to access certain information, as occurs in labor relations. Nor does it apply in the case of hospital emergencies, when it is a matter of life or death. The last scenario in which an intrusion into privacy is allowed is for national security”, specifies the lawyer. Also read La Vanguardia “No one is unaware that, if the large multinationals have this information, it could eventually reach the hands of governments,” Domingo-Ferrer emphasizes. “In Europe the data is the property of the person, but in the United States it is the property of the company and it can use it without our permission,” adds Serra. Manent considers it unnecessary to be alarmed and recalls that “US companies have been forced to comply with European laws and therefore have data processing centers on the continent, because they cannot export our information when they feel like it.” He does recognize, however, that the US government can access our information to “preserve the security of the country.” “But the data is linked to a user profile, which preserves anonymity,” he stresses. With the acquisition of Roomba, Amazon will have access to detailed plans of our homes” Josep Domingo-FerrerProfessor of computer engineering at the URV and director of CyberCat “There are certain precautions we must take if we want to preserve our privacy,” warns Domingo-Ferrer. ” The most effective thing would be to do without the devices. Assuming that we do not do it, the most advisable thing is to disconnect them when we do not use them or speak quietly and away from him if it is about intimate conversations. In addition, not only the speakers, but all Internet of Things devices, such as home automation systems, surveillance or smart appliances, should be connected to a Wi-Fi network other than the one we use regularly,” he adds. “This allows us to protect ourselves in the event of a cyber attack,” says the Director of the CyberCat, “increasingly frequent in these devices”, adds Serra.The mistrust towards the modernization of our lives through devices. The technological is a latent reality. The latest gadget to add to this suspicion has been the Roomba vacuum cleaner after Amazon announced two weeks ago the acquisition of iRobot, the company that manufactures them. The Roomba vacuums almost as much dust as data. Experts warn that the optical sensors that allow them to avoid obstacles draw detailed maps of the house. “From now on Amazon will know what our houses are like,” says Domingo-Ferrer. Interests are yet to be disclosed. What is becoming increasingly clear is that whoever has the information has the power, and companies sometimes know too much about us.