[MikeFez]

What an absolutely foolish reply. Do you shop on Amazon? Do you use Google search or Gmail? Do you watch Netflix? Do you use a credit card?

You have a thousand data points mined per day - an Echo or Google Home are no different from any other service that you may be interested in using. Especially as these devices are not "listening in" until their keyword activates them.

[kossae]

The biggest one I’m always reminded of is “Do you have a phone?”... The always-on, cloud-connected device that you carry everywhere at all times?

[username223]

> The always-on, cloud-connected device that you carry everywhere at all times?

You're doing it wrong. ;-) It's easy to leave your tracking device plugged into the wall at home, just like a landline, or put it in "airplane mode" when you don't want to be tracked or bothered.

[totalZero]

A phone can still track you even if location services are disabled [1], and it can be used to remotely listen to you even when powered off [2]. On my phone, airplane mode does not disable location services.

The only way to be certain that your phone is not tracking you, 24/7, would be to do as you suggest and leave it elsewhere. And even then, it can still be used to monitor conversations in its vicinity.

I'm not overly concerned about these things, but it's good to be aware of the ways that your device can track you.

[1] https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

[2] https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/even-if-theyre-off...

[Fifer82]

No. I don't have a phone. I don't need one. No one in the world at any time for any reason may simply interrupt my current cadence. If it is good news, I can wait, if it is bad news, I can wait. If it is part of a job, I want 20k, (so I don't get issued one).

Having a phone isn't a free pass to letting business into the home that will in the end use your habits to sell you those habits at a premium.