GADGETS ARE SPILLING YOUR SECRETS!
‘SMART’ DEVICES HEAR ALL – AND PASS IT ALONG
DON’T look now, but your cutting-edge gizmos are spying on you! Shocking new evidence has revealed Internet-connected gadgets — like “smart speakers” that do everything from playing music to announcing the weather — are downloading personal information from verbal commands given by their owners!
Home assistant devices not only allow tech companies to collect and sell your daily habits and personal details, they can also be hacked to observe your every move! “Many ‘smart’ devices are essentially Internet-connected
surveillance devices,” said Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group.
In one disturbing case in Portland, Ore., a woman’s intimate conversations with her husband were recorded by their Amazon Echo device — an audio speaker triggered by voice
commands - and sent to the hubby’s colleague!
More and more techsavvy young people are using smart devices powered by voice recognition technology like the Echo and the
Apple HomePod, which is used to make free calls. But in a frightening
twist, two-thirds of these voice-activated “smart” products — including electronic toys and robots — have been found to share users’ data with third parties, including advertising firms! Many of these toys are also vulnerable to hacking — allowing complete strangers to communicate with your child through the device by using something as simple as a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone!
More than 2 million private messages sent between parents and their kids through servers used by smart toys were hacked.
Last year, the FBI warned parents to protect their children by doing research
before buying any interactive toy with Internet connectivity.
The nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, which monitors online browsing activities, has urged people to be on alert when buying smart products and created a rating system for privacy and security.
From baby monitors to automatic lighting systems, the Mozilla guide invites consumers to score products on a scale sliding from “Not Creepy!” to “Super Creepy!” according to the firm’s vice president of advocacy, Ashley Boyd.
The guide answers the questions “What does it know about me?” and most important, “Can I control it?”
Boyd hopes the rating guide will push tech creators to take steps to protect the public and noted, “We think companies can do better.”