Alexa, the voice assistant on the Amazon Echo, serves many purposes such as making life easier for users. She can play music, check the weather, help find recipes, and much more. However, many fear the Echo can be an invasion of privacy because of its ability to record private conversations.
This ability to pick up sounds could be the evidence police need to solve the case of a man’s murder in Arkansas.
According to businessinsider.com, “James Bates pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Victor Collins, who was found floating face-up in a hot tub at Bates’ house. In a filing last week, Bates said Amazon could share the information.”
The Amazon Echo is not constantly recording, and therefore does not pick up everything that happens. Instead, it only responds to certain keywords. Audio from a few seconds before, during, and after the keyword is said, is then recorded.
Reports from businessinsider.com said, “They will often record accidentally in response to non-keywords. It’s possible Bates’ device recorded what happened in the run-up to Collins’ death.”
Amazon, however, initially refused to give the recordings to the police to be used as evidence in the trial, claiming doing so would violate consumer privacy rights. To determine whether or not the recordings would actually prove to have any significant influence on the case, a hearing had been scheduled for March 8.
This trial proved unnecessary, however, as Bates and his defense attorney, Kimberly Weber, granted Amazon permission to release the files. Amazon complied after this. According to CNN.com, Weber said, “There is nothing useful on the device and [she] applauds Amazon for protecting her client’s privacy.”
Since this incident, Amazon has assured its customers’ privacy is among their top concerns. If someone is worried their Amazon Echo may have stored something it was not meant to, users have the ability to manage recordings and view what information has been stored. Customers are also able to delete all recordings linked to their accounts.
