Beware of the smart device: Ways to stay safe and private

NEW YORK (AP) — Did someone invite a spy into your home over the holidays? Maybe so, if a friend or family member gave you a voice-controlled speaker or some other smart device.

It’s easy to forget, but everything from internet-connected speakers with voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa to television sets with built-in Netflix can be always listening — and sometimes watching, too. As with almost all new technology, installing such devices means balancing privacy risks with the conveniences they offer.

The research firm IDC estimates worldwide shipments of 815 million smart speakers, security cameras and other devices in 2019, up 23% from 2018. Many of the sales are for gifts.

You could sidestep the risks altogether by returning the devices right away. But if you decide to keep them — and the artificial intelligence behind them — there are a few things you can do to minimize their eavesdropping potential.

THE SPEAKERS LISTEN ... AND WATCH

Smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo and Google Home let you check weather and appointments with simple voice commands. Fancier versions come with cameras and screens.

Many of these devices listen constantly for commands and connect to corporate servers to carry them out. Typically, they will ignore private chatter and transmit sound recordings only when you trigger the device, such as by pressing a button or speaking a command phrase like “OK Google.” Some gadgets also have a mute button to disable the microphones completely.

But there’s no easy way for consumers to verify those safeguards. In one case, the Alexa assistant in an Echo device misheard background conversation as a command to send the chatter to an acquitance — and so it did.

One more catch: Voice commands sent over the internet are typically stored indefinitely and may include conversations in the background. They can be sought in lawsuits and investigations.

Reputable companies let you review and delete your voice history, Amazon now lets you request automatic deletions after three or 18 months — but you need to set that up, and there’s no option to keep Amazon from saving your command history at all.

Until recently, tech companies allowed employees and contractors to review the voice interactions for quality control — and some of those details leaked. Following a backlash, many companies are at least making it clearer and easier to opt out of human review. Pay attention to your choices.

By ANICK JESDANUN