Sen. Jeff Flake questions Amazon about privacy on voice devices
Jun 15, 2018, 4:48 PM | Updated: Jun 21, 2018, 2:04 pm
PHOENIX — “Alexa, are you being careful with my voice data?”
That’s what U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake wants to know.
Flake, an Arizona Republican, and Democratic colleague Chris Coons of Delaware sent a letter to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos this week looking for answers about the privacy features of the company’s Echo devices and Alexa software.
“Since these technologies are so new, it’s unclear how these devices work and what steps are being taken to protect consumers’ privacy,” Flake, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, said in a news release Friday.
The letter contained six questions, one including multiple sections, requesting information about how the voice technology works and what Amazon does with the information it gathers. It also asks what is being done to ensure that consumers’ privacy is protected.
“We all know the tremendous benefits these technologies bring to our lives on a daily basis, but we would also like to be assured that our personal data is not compromised in the process,” Flake said.
The letter references reports from last month about an Echo speaker that recorded a private conversation between a Portland, Oregon, couple without their knowledge and sent it to one of the man’s employees.
Amazon said the device interpreted a word in the background conversation as “Alexa” — a command that makes it wake up — and then it interpreted the conversation as a “send message” request.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
