Everyone knows about smart speakers, and they also know that they need a "wake-up word" before starting them. For example, the wake-up word of Xiaomi smart speaker is "Little Love Classmate", and the wake-up word of Tmall smart speaker is "Tmall Elf". ...
Now, there is a way to talk to smart speakers directly, without the need for wake-up words.
Do you know what this is?
A patent recently announced by Amazon will allow Alexa, the company's voice assistant, to start recording audio before users say "wake-up words".
According to this patent, it will allow users to communicate with their devices more naturally, such as "play some music, Alexa", instead of starting each command with "Alexa" or other selected wake-up words. At present, many voice assistants cannot hear or understand commands until the user issues a "wake-up word".
In practice, this patent will allow Alexa to "review" what she said recently loudly before hearing her name. For example, if a user says, "What's the weather like today, Alexa?" The device will hear the trigger word "Alexa" and then quickly return to the previous phrase to process the command.
It is easier to communicate with smart speakers, but it also brings another big hidden danger.
In order to do this, the smart speaker will continuously record, store and process the voice. A large number of voices or conversations are recorded (although some intelligent judgments will be made to delete them), but it also provides users with considerable privacy risks.
However, this patent attempts to explain this point, allowing users to choose to allow Alexa to record and store 10 to 30 seconds of audio at a time.
An Amazon spokesperson said: "Like many companies, we submitted many forward-looking patent applications, which explored new scientific ideas, but these ideas may not be translated into customer-oriented products. Patents take many years to obtain and do not necessarily reflect the current or recent state of products and services. "
Amazon has shown on many occasions that Alexa is not as private as you think. Recent reports show that Amazon hired a group of people to listen to Alexa's recordings and process them. These auditors may obtain potentially personally identifiable information, including location data.
Comments: Although creative, we can't put users' privacy first, which is tantamount to "eavesdropping" users' privacy.
Regarding your smart speaker, are you worried that your privacy will be leaked?
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