Amazon Buys Bee AI Wearable That Listens To Everything You Say 28
Amazon is acquiring Bee, a startup that makes a $49.99 AI-powered wearable that passively listens to conversations and generates personalized summaries and suggestions. "You can also give the device permission to access your emails, contacts, location, reminders, photos, and calendar events to help inform its AI-generated insights, as well as create a searchable history of your activities," adds The Verge. From the report: When asked about Amazon's plans to apply the same privacy measures offered by Bee, such as its policy against storing audio, Amazon spokesperson Alexandra Miller says the company "cares deeply" about customer privacy and security, adding that the company will work with Bee to give users "even greater control over" their devices when the deal closes.
"We've been strong stewards of customer data since our founding, and have never been in the business of selling our customers' personal information to others," Miller says. "We design our products to protect our customers' privacy and security and to make it easy for them to be in control of their experience -- and this approach would of course apply to Bee." Miller also says the terms of the deal are "confidential," and all Bee employees have "received offers to join Amazon."
"We've been strong stewards of customer data since our founding, and have never been in the business of selling our customers' personal information to others," Miller says. "We design our products to protect our customers' privacy and security and to make it easy for them to be in control of their experience -- and this approach would of course apply to Bee." Miller also says the terms of the deal are "confidential," and all Bee employees have "received offers to join Amazon."
Re:Amazon Echo already does this..... (Score:5, Informative)
store the keywords (Score:2)
print (keywords)
[more, honey, aaahhh]
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That is not creepy at all (Score:2)
Narrative vs reality (Score:2)
Amazon already has a product that does this. Alexa/Echo. It has all the same privacy considerations.
This seems to be expanding the product line into wearables. Not creating a new product type that presents a unique privacy issue.
Re:Narrative vs reality (Score:4, Insightful)
Wearing it everywhere you go and recording what other people say is a new privacy issue that Echo does not have.
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At least in the US, isn't it illegal to record someone in a private space without their knowledge/consent?
So you wear one of these into someone's house or business or a Dr's office waiting room and manage to catch HIPPA violating snippets as people check in.
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Depends on what state you're in. Some are one party consent, some are two, and in all cases, only in a place where there's an expectation of privacy. (And generally speaking, if there's more than two people present, there's no expectation of privacy.)
In someone else's private space, like their home, they can impose rules that say "no recording," but violating them would be a civil matter (and depend on the resident even being aware).
I'm wondering if there's some kind of ultrasonic tone that would screw this
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Re:Narrative vs reality (Score:4, Informative)
...manage to catch HIPPA violating snippets...
And the same thing I used to say to the doctors (who should know better, given the annual refresher requirement) where I used to work when they made (sometimes repeatedly) the same mistake, it's the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" -- 'HIPAA', with one 'P' and two 'A's.
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"Listens To Everything You Say"- perfect for girls (Score:2)
"Listens To Everything You Say" - perfect companion for girls then. That's one job AI can't take away faster
Technically true (Score:2)
...(We) have never been in the business of selling our customers' personal information to others," Miller says.
Well, since Amazon would be one of the largest consumers of that type of data, he's probably telling the truth here, but that doesn't absolve them of the massive privacy violation.
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...(We) have never been in the business of selling our customers' personal information to others," Miller says.
Well, since Amazon would be one of the largest consumers of that type of data, he's probably telling the truth here, but that doesn't absolve them of the massive privacy violation.
They didn't say they wouldn't "rent it" though ...
To Bee or not to Bee? (Score:2)
'Cause I'm so addled I need something to summarize what I just heard? [No]
You can also give the device permission to access your emails, [No] contacts, [No] location, [No] reminders, [No] photos, [No] and calendar events [No] to help inform its AI-generated insights [No], as well as create a searchable history of your activities," [Hell No]
A Quiet Place (Score:2)
We never know when Google or Alexia are listening in my house, so my wife simply make eye contact and glance at the phones and start unplugging things. Only way to be sure that our conversations are secure.
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Alexa has quietly turned to shit the past few years, so even if it listens, it doesn't hear anyway.
"Amazon cares deeply" (Score:5, Insightful)
Illegal in Europe (Score:2)
In Germany, even possession of such a device (without using it) is illegal unless it is clearly and well-visibly a recording device. And recording a conversation without informed consent (i.e. you must explain storage, purpose, deletion, etc.) is illegal under the GDPR all over Europe.
Keep your phones & tablets near a radio (Score:2)
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Fuck no. (Score:2)
Just no. Anyone using such a device will very quickly leave my social circles, too.
Politicians (Score:2)
Every elected US politician should be issued one when they take office and be mandated to leave it on.