[ballenf]

I think the issue is one of the consumer's intent: are you buying a phone with a bunch of extra capabilities or a microphone hooked to a data center around the world? And that explicit decision is what is jarring to people who value privacy.

Of course they both have microphones hooked to data centers, but the Alexas/Echos are almost worthless without the microphone enabled. Many people I know have turned off listening for trigger words on their phone.

That being said, I have a HomePod that I have to manually press the touch button on top for it to listen. I use it for music, an occasional family conference call and occasional for generic assistant stuff like weather.

I tried a Google Home but couldn't get it configured in that mode -- listen on physical touch only (that was 3-4 years ago). And doubly couldn't get it setup without deep integration into a google account. The HomePod complains occasionally that it can't answer because it hasn't been personalized to an account, but is otherwise totally fine operating without access to my every inner thought (web/location history, etc.).

I'm just as concerned about every modern car essentially being a microphone hooked to a datacenter on wheels. And new TVs. And a few refrigerators and kids toys. And light switches. At least phones (well iPhones -- haven't used the last few Android versions) are easy to setup without listening enabled. And on iPhones it's opt-in during the setup process (the Siri checkbox is default on, but you are prompted to decide with no other confusing decisions on the screen at the same time).

[StavrosK]

> I have a HomePod that I have to manually press the touch button on top for it to listen

What's the difference? You trust it not to listen without the button press, I trust it to not listen without the wake word. To think that the distinction is meaningful is wishful thinking.

[dunnevens]

It's kinda meaningful. Wake words can be sometimes triggered by accident. Or by things like that commercial from a few years ago. A physical button press avoids all that.

[thebean11]

So the worry is that it will be triggered accidentally and hear something you didn't intend it to, then that tiny, rarely occurring piece of data will be used against you?

[ballenf]

I just see listening for a trigger word as surveillance. Your (and your guests) every word is analyzed and at least temporarily saved somewhere outside your control.

[StavrosK]

It's analyzed on the device, which is not outside your control. Besides, how do you know the same isn't true of the physical button?

[tshaddox]

I’m not seeing the difference. If you already have the cell phone in your home, you might as well get the smart speaker if you want the convenience of voice controls for playing music, setting timers, etc.

[cmiles74]

I don't think any consumer is buying a smart phone with the expectation (or intent) that it's recording them all the time, or sometimes, or at the behest of law enforcement, etc. They aren't really thinking about this when they buy a product like the Echo, either, I don't think. Also: a phone without a microphone will be of limited utility on calls. ;-)

The only way to be sure these devices aren't listening to you is to not have one at all. Or, as the person in this article did, take it apart and de-cap the chips to make sure.

In the case of smart phones, I think it's a mistake to assume that switching some of these functions off in the settings will actually have the desired effect: preventing the phone from recording audio without making the owner aware of this recording.

[shaklee3]

> are you buying a phone with a bunch of extra capabilities or a microphone hooked to a data center around the world

Yes.

[Talanes]

I get that you're trying to be clever and say that it is actually both, but the question was clearly phrased so that the second option was in exclusive opposition to the first.