Project Alias Hacks Amazon Echo and Google Home To Protect Your Privacy (fastcompany.com)

fahrbot-bot writes: The gadget, called Alias, is an always-listening speaker, designed to fit on top of an Amazon Echo or Google Home, where it looks like a mass of melted candle wax. It's composed of a 3D-printed top layer, a mic array, a Raspberry Pi, and two speakers. It only connects to the internet during the initial setup process. Alias stays "off the grid" while you're using it, preventing your conversations from leaving the device. When the Alias hears its own (customizable) wake word, it'll stop broadcasting white noise and wake up Alexa or Google Assistant so you can use them as normal.

Comments

Re:Why connect to the internet even once?

[Anonymous Coward]

It goes beyond that, the companies involved on the back-end making claims of "oh, it's not listening to you much," or "oh, we encrypt everything in the cloud" and then you find the insecure AWS folder full of videos...

This is before black-hats figure out how to trivially botnet them into a superweapon, this is just how the companies that sold you the damn spying devices "for your convenience" value your privacy and security. Lip service.

Amazon's RING security cameras with the backend "god" mode that they literally gave out unsecured unlimited access to a Ukranian software contractor... It just goes on and on and on forever.

It's not about hackers, they'll always be the outsider threat. It's about lazy fucking morons. This is the threat to us all. Morons.

I only see one problem

[Opportunist]

Anyone valuing his privacy enough to use such a device probably already would not allow an eavesdropping device to exist in his living room. So who exactly is the target audience?

Re:I only see one problem

[lazarus]

I'm trying to figure out why the people who want the device but are worried about their privacy don't use the mute button on the top of their Echo. Is there some conspiracy about this not working that I'm unaware of? Why would I replace the mute button with another device that may also be listening to me?

It's listening devices all the way down!

Re:I only see one problem

[markdavis]

>"I'm trying to figure out why the people who want the device but are worried about their privacy don't use the mute button on the top of their Echo. Is there some conspiracy about this not working that I'm unaware of?"

Doesn't have to be a "conspiracy". How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does? Perhaps it still listens and doesn't respond. There is no way to know what it is doing.

>"Why would I replace the mute button with another device that may also be listening to me?"

Because they you have a device you control and know will and cannot listen to anything without your explicit permission. I think it is a fantastic idea.

Re:I only see one problem

[markdavis]

>"How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does? Perhaps it still listens and doesn't respond. There is no way to know what it is doing."

Reply to self. I should have added:

And even if you know what it does now, how do you know that won't change later? The company could decide, at any point, to change the behavior because it is a soft function. And if they can change it, then so can hackers. And perhaps there are back doors and the government can gain access directly or indirectly. None of this is far-fetched, we have plenty of evidence that it has already happened and is happening.

We are entering a different age now- one in which our equipment is no longer really ours. We have less and less control over the things we are buying and using. Our phones, cars, TV's, tablets, watches... You don't have to think people are trying to break into your house to do something sensible like locking your doors. You don't have to think people are secretly trying to run into your car to wear a seatbelt.

Re:I only see one problem

[lazarus]

Doesn't have to be a "conspiracy". How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does?

Because it is a hardware switch which cuts off electricity to the microphone. This has been explored by many many tear-downs. Search for yourself.

So unless someone has sneaked into your house/office and swapped it for some elaborate bypass it is not going to hear anything when it is activated.

Re:I only see one problem

[ichimunki]

How would I know if the "Do Not Disturb" button worked? Wireshark. Even if the device listens but doesn't respond, what matters is whether it phones home-- and that can be monitored. It should not be connecting to the network until after it recognizes the wake word... now I suppose it could record and then wait for the wake word to transmit... but if I'm that paranoid, why wouldn't I just install a bunch of smart sockets to turn the power to my devices off when I want true privacy? Or why would I get devices like these in the first place?

Re:I only see one problem

[Can'tNot]

So who exactly is the target audience?

People who aren't single. This is a compromise device.

Simpler, cheaper solution

[Tyger-ZA]

Unplug your spy devices, permanently

Wrong material

[ArhcAngel]

Shouldn't it be made out of tinfoil?

Snips

[GodWasAnAlien]

Instead, why not give/throw/sell the alexa/google device away,
and just put Snips on a Raspberry pi?

Re:Why connect to the internet even once?

[dcw3]

This is before black-hats figure out how to trivially botnet them into a superweapon

Yup, that's happened a lot. Better stay in mom's basement just to be safe.