#Amazon#Alexa#IoT#BigTech#SmartHomes: "If you happen to get kicked off your smart device, you might not have any legal recourse, according to Sadowski. Given the monopolies held by a handful of businesses that dominate our homes, this may prove particularly concerning.
“The idea of locking somebody out without a proper investigation, whatever that means, is the prerogative of a private corporation,” Sadowski said. “There’s no due process here that they have to follow in the legal sense… Nobody is innocent until proven guilty in the court of Amazon.”
In fact, he said that companies likely find smart devices valuable not necessarily due to the products themselves, but for the profitable information they collect. After all, Amazon uses Alexa data to target users with ads.
So, what happens if Alexa hears someone bad-mouthing the company? Could the “court of Amazon” throw them in device jail? Thousands of Amazon employees listen to our conversations to improve Alexa’s performance, as reported by Bloomberg News in 2019. It’s easy to see how they could shut off all our devices if they hear us say something they don’t like."
Come visit the #Methods and #Metrics session at #CHI2023 starting now! A bunch of interesting papers in the pipeline (including one I worked on). If you're into #selfefficacy, #smarthomes and scale dev, give us a visit!