
I got a Google Home and finally understand the future of computing - megahz
https://medium.com/charged-tech/i-got-a-google-home-and-finally-understand-the-future-of-computing-e7de00487d7d#.mbbuzf572
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sharemywin
I'm not sure I want another listening device in my home. Seems like a direct
pipe to the NSA to me.

It's bad enough everything is top 3-5 results in search advertising. Now
everything is winner take all.

Me: Google, I'd like some Chinese...

Google: No Problem, I'll order some shitty food from the place that paid me
the most...

~~~
Centine
Not necessarily the NSA, but I don't particular trust either Google, or
especially Facebook if they launched something like this, to not be listening
to ad-related keywords.

~~~
soylentcola
It only sends info to Google's servers after hearing the "hot word" but sure,
it more than likely will analyze your requests in a similar fashion to the
requests you type into the search box on your browser. Worth noting as this
may or may not be a dealbreaker depending on your personal choices/concerns.

~~~
type0
> may not be a dealbreaker depending on your personal choices/concerns.

How is it not a dealbreaker that companies like Google and Facebook are
destroying internet privacy and undermine the whole foundations of democracy.
If I visit a friend I would require him to tell me if my speech is being
recorded by google or anyone else that he is aware of, privacy is a matter of
dignity and will always be the cornerstone of human rights, it's not a matter
of personal choices/concerns it's a fundamental concern of how we want our
society to be.

~~~
lsaferite
Did you just miss the "It only sends info to Google's servers after hearing
the 'hot word'" part?

It's not like these devices are open microphones pushing data to
Amazon/Google/Microsoft. They use onboard processing to detect their personal
wake words and then stream your audio until a defined audio gap. That is then
processed into text and kicks off the automated routines. Do they analyze this
for ad-related keywords? Perhaps (Probably), but that is a different argument
that is valid vs. an invalid argument that it's always streaming.

~~~
eli_gottlieb
> Did you just miss the "It only sends info to Google's servers after hearing
> the 'hot word'" part?

And where's the guarantee of that? Can we see the code? Can we turn off the
microphones in hardware?

~~~
jxy
Just like every laptop/phone/tablet has a built-in microphone and we can't
turn it off either.

All it takes is for Apple/Microsoft/Google/Amazon to push a system update,
and, voila~~~

Skynet listens to all.

