Strangers Listening

I talk to myself. I don't mean that I mumble every now and then when I stub a toe or something like that. I mean that I have whole conversations with myself. Sometimes I'm talking about something I did ("Why the heck did I buy that plant? I've already killed two of them. That's five dollars I could have spent on some flour or some more tin foil. I am out of tin foil, aren't I? I think I used the last of it the other day. Let me go look. I might have some more in the pantry. Oh, man, I need to straighten this pantry up..."). Sometimes, I am praying out loud or just bargaining with God ("I really am trying to be a nicer person, Lord. Please help me to deal better with my anger." Or, "One of these days, I'm going to run into a wall and do more than give myself a knot on the head. Oh, Lord, please don't let me die from something so stupid. If I have to die, let it be from doing something heroic - or just let me die in my sleep. And please let all my laundry be done and the house clean when it happens. And let me be wearing my good PJs and not have my hair up in twists and a satin scarf.")

You might think I'm just being funny, but I am so serious. I talk to myself so much that I have to tell myself to shut up. Not only do I have those random conversations, but I also talk my way through my writing. I come up with whole pages of dialogue for my characters this way. There are times when the characters are being particularly hilarious and I make myself laugh and laugh and laugh. I'm not sure whether that might be entertaining or just frightening for anyone eavesdropping. And it's the potential eavesdropping that I want to post about today.

I have an Alexa device. I have the Echo Dot. I got it a couple of years ago during a Christmas sale. I don't use it every day. Sometimes, I don't turn it on for weeks at a time. Usually, I use it for listening to music or audiobooks when I'm cleaning or doing other chores around the house. (Even when I use it, I always deactivate the microphone by pushing that one button on top.) I have used it once or twice to call my brother to see if I left my cell phone at his house or in his car. Now that I also have a landline, I don't need the Dot for that. I used to say that if I got very sick and couldn't reach my phone, I'd have Alexa call my family. Of course, then I'd have to put up with all their "I've fallen and I can't get up jokes" for the next ten years... But, like I said, I sometimes don't turn the thing on for weeks. My best friend leaves hers on and uses it for almost everything - finding recipes, checking the weather, help with spelling, setting reminders, and asking random questions. But back to the eavesdropping.

When I read somewhere a while back that Alexa (or Alexa employees) could be listening in even when you hadn't voice-activated it, I got worried. Not worried that it was listening to my solo conversations but that it was listening to me while I had guests or was using the phone. That's just rude. I'm pretty sure that someone somewhere is always watching and listening to us, but I brought Alexa into my home, so it needs to have some manners. I didn't know whether the nosy thing was "training" when I had the microphone deactivated or not. So I searched around and found out how to opt-out of the setting for Alexa "training" itself by listening to me.

For a couple of weeks, I assumed the whole problem of Alexa listening in was handled. Then I was watching one of my favorite YouTube channels where the host brought up why she will never bring an Alexa device into her home and I felt kind of stupid. This host mentions that even her 10-year old son realized early on that Alexa has to always be listening. Otherwise, how does it know when you are speaking the activation word.

Someone, please tell me right now that I'm not the only idiot who never thought of this. Please.

Here's the thing, even without an Alexa device, I don't think that we are free of strangers listening (and looking) in on us. I have a friend who is very computer literate. As soon as they were commonplace, he taught me to always cover the camera lenses on my PC and phone. I always have, though I don't know that it does any good. I'd never done anything about the microphone until recently.

My best friend I and talked about the privacy issue a long time ago. We had started to notice something after we had talked on the phone with someone or even had a conversation in the privacy of our homes. Maybe you've noticed it too? Have you ever had a conversation - not on the computer - and then when you go online, there are advertisements for things you talked about? I can't remember when my friend and I first noticed, but we have had this happen a lot. Usually, we are talking about food (me) or clothes (her) and then the next time we are online, we will see some very specific brand or product that we mentioned. In one of my email accounts, ads run all along one side or the in-box. For instance, I've been on the phone with my friend, talking about a recipe that requires, say, puff pastry and all of a sudden, I will see ads for that very thing. Or we can be discussing some kind of item we want to purchase - like a chair or couch - and, boom, there's an ad for one.

Just in case you think my friend and I are just a little bit nuts (we are, but...), this has happened with other people. I've had a couple of people have this happen. The bestie's sister is aware of it too. My friend and her sister will be in their home talking and see that same kind of thing happen. I was talking with a neighbor - standing at the door at least 10 feet from my phone, computer, and television - talking about one of those meal delivery services. She had gotten some coupons and was offering to share them with me and a couple other neighbors. I declined and thanked her and we chatted for a few minutes before she left. I went back to the computer where I had been blogging and when I checked my mail there was one of those ads. For the next several hours, everywhere online I went, a lot of the advertisements were for different meal delivery services. Now that is just creepy.


Remember that I mentioned the microphone on my phone? Well, I recently went in and checked over all the permissions for the different apps I have installed. I disabled the phone and camera access for all of them that I could. I now only turn those permissions on temporarily as I need them.

I know that people say we are living in the age of the 'smart' home and we have all these so-called 'smart' devices. I just think that the smarter the devices get, the dumber we become.

I'm getting to be so paranoid. I realize that I gave away most of my privacy a long time ago just by joining into social media and blogging and email platforms, but I still want to retain as much control as I can. As far as talking to myself, well, that's never going to change. And it's not something I do because I'm single and turning into a plant-lady-is-the-new-cat-lady. I have always talked to myself and I have driven husbands and roommates crazy doing it. My best friend does the same thing and she says it's because we like talking to intelligent people. Now see, that's why she's my best friend!

Peace
--Free

**UPDATE** REVIEW Echo Dot (2nd Gen)

Okay, for those of you who read the original review, I wanted to come back and update you on what I call The Best of Echo Dot. I've had time to play around and use the device more, so here goes a bullet list of the best stuff:

THE SOUNDS/BACKGROUND NOISE

• Rain, thunder, forest, wind chimes - there are so many ambient sounds to choose from. I've used probably 20 so far. There are the ones I use for when I am writing and need to concentrate, then there are others I like to use for falling asleep. You can also request that Alexa play something specific, like "study music". (You can specifically ask that the device to "Play some music to help me sleep.")
• You can set the sounds and music to play for a certain amount of time. For music, it's great to be able to play a song on repeat.
• Alexa/Echo lets you voice command the device to turn the volume up or down, skip a song, pause/resume, etc. 
• If you are listening to a random playlist (my favorite command is, "Alexa, play the Temptations"), you can ask the device what song is playing. You can also tell it to play more songs like the one you are listening to.

GENERAL ASSISTANCE

• "Alexa, call -----" Device uses your contact list.
• Calls are over wi-fi and don't use your cellular minutes. And... hands-free!
• Think about being able to call for help from family or your doctor if you can't get to your phone! Seriously. Think about that.
• Call a particular number ("Alexa, call 123-456-7891") *except for 911*
• I have not explored how to send messages but, apparently, that's possible.
• You can instruct the device to make a list for you - grocery, to-do, etc.
• "Alexa, add a 1 pm meeting to my calendar."
• "Alexa, when is my next appointment?"
• "Alexa, what time is it?" and "What time is it in *city or country*"
• "Alexa, how many days until summer?"
• You can ask Alexa math questions (i.e.: What's 4859 divided by 8)
• For writing, I love that I can ask things like: "What's another word for ---" and "What's the definition of ---"
• "Tell me a recipe for---"
• You can control a Bluetooth-connected device: "Restart" or "Disconnect"
• "What's the status of  Delta flight 213?"

JUST FOR FUN

• "Alexa, tell me a joke." (Most are corny but cute!)
• Try asking the device this if you want a little giggle: "Alexa, who you gonna call?"
• You can request that it tells you a story, sing to you, or chat with you. (The chatbot feature is fun but it's also collecting information.)
• "What's the difference between Ice Ice Baby and Under Pressure?
• "How many people live in Barrow, Alaska?"

EVEN MORE STUFF...

Find your phone. If you download the TrackR app, Alexa will use it to ring your phone so that you can locate it. Here's the best part: it will ring the phone full volume even if you have silenced your ringer. Nice, right?

Find just about any other object - which is even better (or scarier). There are little tracking "pixels" you can buy and attach to things like your car keys, purse/wallet, or lover who is trying to hide from your stalker ass! These devices then work with Alexa to help you locate the item. (Not sure how I feel about this one, guys. There are some shady people in the world and they will find shady uses for the best of things...)

"Drop in" on family and friends. This is another feature I'm not sure the world is ready for. I know I'm not! This Basically, this one will let you and other device owners use Alexa as an intercom system. For example, I could "drop in" on my brother and his family and they could do the same with me. Off the top of my head, I could only think of one reason I would ever want to use this feature. Let's say I am home alone and am expecting a repairman. I might want to let my family hear what's going on just in case the repairman is a serial killer. Thankfully, there are a lot of permissions that have to be agreed upon between users. 

Smart Home Controls. I have a dumb apartment that I love so I have no use for these features. However, I did try out a complimentary smart light bulb that didn't work so... You have to read up on some of this stuff for yourself but you can control lighting, temperature, appliances, etc - as long as they are smart-enabled, I guess.

Check for hacks & email breaches. This one requires adding one of the skills in Alexa. One app lets you check whether you have been hacked (you need an account with a specific site). The other checks for email breaches (you will need to link your Amazon account).

In Summary

Again, this thing is an awesome addition to my life. With my cognitive problems, the device is not just fun but really useful. I think I've just about worn out the Timer feature!

It's very nice to use the VAUX (or just Echo) speaker to listen to music from my Bluetooth-connected phone or computer. And, for people using a limited minutes cell phone plan, the calling feature is awesome. 

I noticed that some people own the Echo Spot and Echo Show. They can have those. I'm perfectly happy with my $40 Echo Dot. Matter of fact, Turbo Future ranks the Dot higher than the other Echo devices. 

Just for giggles, I am including a video of me hanging out with my new favorite roommate:

Ding ding ding dinga ding ding

Peace

--Free