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Amazon Isn't Saying If Echo Has Been Wiretapped (zdnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the always-listening dept.

An anonymous reader writes from a report via ZDNet: Since announcing how many government data requests and wiretap orders it receives, Amazon has so far issued two transparency reports. The two reports outline how many subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders the company received to cloud service, Amazon Web Services. The cloud makes up a large portion of all the data Amazon gathers, but the company does also collect vast amounts of data from its retail businesses, mobile services, book purchases, and requests made to Echo. The company's third report is due to be released in a few weeks but an Amazon spokesperson wouldn't comment on whether or not the company will expand its transparency report to include information regarding whether or not the Amazon Echo has been wiretapped. There are reportedly more than three million Amazon Echo speakers out in the wild. Gizmodo filed a freedom of information (FOIA) request with the FBI earlier this year to see if the agency had wiretapped an Echo as part of a criminal investigation. The FBI didn't confirm or deny wiretapping the Echo. Amazon was recently awarded a patent for drone docking and recharging stations that would be built on tall, existing structures like lampposts, cell towers, or church steeples.

6 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. It has by UndyingShadow · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So...yes

    1. Re:It has by quenda · · Score: 5, Funny

      You mean Amazon ECH(el)O(n) ?

  2. Re:Two separate topics? by kav2k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You will find that each instance is edited by BeauHD. It's his "shtick". But I agree it's more often than not irrelevant and annoying.

  3. easy answer by aepervius · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Amazon Isn't Saying If Echo Has Been Wiretapped " that means they were told to not say it has been and they decided to not lie. There is no reason whatsoever to not tell they were not wiretaped.

    --
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  4. If you have Amazon echo... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... you're an idiot, you're willingly giving up your right to privacy inside your house, and you simply deserve to be wiretapped. Any internet-connected device could be "wiretapped", but in this case we are talking about something whose only and explicit purpose is to listen to what happens inside your house and send everything to "the cloud" (i.e., somebody else that can do whatever it wants with it), without the user being able to set up any sort of security measures. That's purely idiotic self wiretapping, not government wiretapping. No sympathy for amazon echo users, sorry.

  5. Orwell's Telescreen? by ai4px · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All party members were expected to purchase the telescreen device and never switch it off so the party could monitor them. The telescreen could be dimmed but never turned off.