And while tech companies assure customers their devices will only engage after “hearing” a command or wake word (“Hey, Google!” or “Alexa!”), these devices have a critical flaw: To work properly, they must be listening for that wake word all the time. And they make mistakes. This is how the unnamed man in Germany received recordings of household background noise. It’s also why, in November, a judge ordered Amazon to hand over recordings from a speaker found at the scene of a double murder.
…oors. But connecting everything is just the start. Soon, you’ll be able to talk to everything, too. You’ll talk to your TV and speakers, of course. But also perhaps to your light bulbs and your mirror and your coffee maker. All will be powered by a voice command system that, chances are, will have been created by either Google or Amazon.
…ll knowledge was just a few 14.4 baud beeps and gurgles away. I was far from a libertarian but I do confess to resonating to John “cypherpunk” Gilmore’s declaration that “the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” Totalita…