
Amazon received a US patent to provide “surveillance as a service.” - smn1234
https://qz.com/1648875/amazon-receives-us-patent-for-surveillance-as-a-service/
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jasaloo
"Meanwhile, Amazon’s Echo and voice-assisted personal assistant, Alexa, was in
an estimated 24% of US households as of the fourth quarter of 2018..."

Well that's unnerving.

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netwanderer3
I'm guessing surveillance will soon turn privacy into a cash cow industry. We
will see companies providing "privacy as a service" coming up. The constant
cat and mouse games could enable unlimited exponential growths. Security firms
will be absolutely everywhere and even small businesses would have their own
dedicated "security & privacy department".

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jammygit
Time to cancel my prime I guess. I really liked amazon before the news about
their employees and surveillance business came out

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avgDev
Yeah.....I used to be BIG amazon fan. On the surface amazon is amazing, easy
shopping, no need to walk around the store, no need to drive, no need to talk
to anyone, it saves time. HOWEVER, reviews used to be great but now you simply
cannot trust anything but negative reviews.

So now, I'm going back to basics when it comes to shopping for anything over
$1k+, I talk to people I know. People that do not have any skin in the game.

Now that I think of it, anything online cannot be trusted. For example, I am
looking for a new car, all the car reviews are mostly positive. Car reviewers
usually get invited to events but I'm sure if they shit on a brand they would
not have access to vehicles before release. I'm looking at new Santa Fe,
however, they recently got their offices raided because of the massive
problems with 2.4 engine(fires, and high failure rates) and no reviewer even
mentions it. So, one needs to go to forum of owners and see what they
experience is like.

I wish there was a different amazon, where the website actually researches the
product, and offers expert + verified consumer reviews that cannot be swayed
in any way. No 3rd party sellers. One can only dream.

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EliRivers
Is that website not Which?
[https://www.which.co.uk/](https://www.which.co.uk/) (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F)
)

Although they are UK based, so not so useful to you. Maybe there's a US
analogue. Plus, of course, they maintain their independence by not taking
bungs from the manufacturers or allowing advertising, which means they sell
their information rather than give it away. But then, if you want them to be
independent, what other source of income could they have?

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paladinxx
Up next, "Amazon 'Served' as a service": Using Echo/Blink/Ring, Amazon
determine when you are home then use Key to enter your home and serve you
legal papers, recording the entire interaction to the cloud for access by the
courts.

