Alexa, Stop Listening to My Life

 

I’m a boomer. I remember when phones had cords, and privacy meant closing the door—not toggling a setting buried six menus deep. These days, even silence feels surveilled.   Smart assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri are designed to respond to voice commands, but this means they are constantly listening. 

Although they claim to activate only with specific wake words, accidental activations are possible. Many of my friends love using the voice command function.  They can just say "Alexa play music similar to Celion Dion or Cher" and the music plays.  Or perhaps they want to make chicken Cacciatore for dinner, all they need to do is ask Alexa. What they don't understand is that Alexa or any of the other smart assistances for that matter never leaves the room.

How many times have you been muttering something to yourself about wishing you had something or another and Alexa or Siri answer you with something they found to help you.  Or have you ever noticed you were talking about a product with someone and the next time you were online you are inundated with ads about this product? Apparently, Alexa was listening.

Voice recordings, accidental activations, microphone settings. a smart assistant can be saving snippets of your life, your questions, your tone, even your background noise. It feels like someone has been reading your diary and knows all your deep dark secrets.

And it’s not just Alexa. Gaming apps, too. I downloaded a game that asked for microphone access. Why? Was it going to listen to me groan when I couldn’t solve level 12? I revoked the permission, but the damage was done. I’d invited something into my phone that didn’t know how to mind its own business.

Privacy used to be a default. Now it’s a choice. And like any good boomer I am more vigilant. I’m choosing it with intention, a little suspicion, and a whole lot of sass. I disable microphones when I’m not using them. I check app permissions like I check expiration dates on yogurt. I still use tech—I am not a person opposed to new technology or ways of working for goodness' sake, but I want it to serve me, not study me.

Consider reviewing your device settings and history. Disabling microphone access when not in use. Instructions on managing these settings can be found by going to the internet and google. 

I would love your opinion on the use of smart assistance.