
Amazon Partnership with British Police Alarms Privacy Advocates - dsr12
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/09/amazon-echo-alexa-uk-police/
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tombrossman
Reminder, Amazon's UK site already reports your purchases of many electronics
to a police database. There is no opt-out. You could argue that this makes
sense for mobile phones, but they do it for many other things, too. Here's a
completely ordinary television that gets you listed in yet another police
database:
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015EL27TQ/](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015EL27TQ/)

In fairness, they do disclose this up front. _" Please note that devices
dispatched from and sold by Amazon are automatically registered on CheckMend
and the National Mobile Property Register (NMPR), this information is shared
in accordance with the Amazon.co.uk Privacy Notice"_

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bmsleight_
For phones, its so your phone can be locked when stolen. For TV, it is to
ensure everyone pays the TV license to fund the BBC.

Both, IMHO, are good things. My phone was stolen, I don't want the lovely
person to financially benefit. Also I like everyone to pay for the BBC heck
but I am a socialist.

~~~
dogma1138
I know a few people who got their property back because of the registry
sometimes laughably years down the line when it was already useless.

The TV license is nearly impossible to get rid off these because you also need
to prove you don’t or can’t use bbc iplayer or consume any other publicly
funded content online.

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larrik
Huh?

There's nothing in the article about a partnership (despite being called that
in the headline). All I see is a police department that put out an Alexa app.
I don't see anything wrong with, that. I'm a bit confused on how the Echo
displays the pictures the article claims they broadcast, though.

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maxxxxx
I think the main point is that police data is now stored on Amazon servers.

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mseebach
Well, data that the Police is keen to share with as much of the public as
possible, as quickly as possible. It hardly seems out of the realm of the
reasonable to use Amazon for something like that.

~~~
maxxxxx
They also want to use Alexa for incoming crime reports and internal
discussions.

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sjclemmy
> ‘The cop [would] be able to say ‘Give me the warrant details for Joe
> Blocks,’...

I’m assuming this site is US based because someone from the UK and especially
Lancashire would know that he meant Joe Bloggs.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bloggs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bloggs)

~~~
rdiddly
It almost looks like Joe Bollocks this way (which wouldn't be a term
universally known in the US either).

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dazc
...have rolled out a program to broadcast crime updates, photos of wanted and
missing people, and safety notifications to Amazon Echo owners.

One has to wonder why anyone would want this?

~~~
pbhjpbhj
In a local FB group we get crime updates, allows you to be active in avoiding
beginning a victim; and to be vigilant to help those around you.

Tiny example - you might not think twice seeing someone fiddling with a house
sign, but knowing there had been a recent spate of thefts (yes, really) one
could challenge or report as appropriate.

More serious example - several attempts to abduct children within a few days
of each other allowed me to remind my kids of safe behaviour; as well as
reminding myself to be vigilant.

I always read the "missing" reports in the local news as I see a lot of people
and have, I believe, a good memory for faces.

Given it's easy to avoid, why would you not want it. Good citizenship makes
society better IMO.

~~~
dazc
'Given it's easy to avoid, why would you not want it.'

Experience of similar programs in the UK which start off as well-meaning
endeavours but soon become nothing more annoying forms of 'official' spam.

I get the point about ultra local events but, here at least, the police seem
to be always the last people to know about stuff happening at this level.

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sabarn01
Also all shipping companies also has to report to the uk anti smuggling
network.

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robinduckett
Turn your Amazon Echo into the perfect paranoia machine!

