Paranoia! It has me!
Home devices have brought a world of convenience and joy to us, but they have also brought some grave security concerns. Many people think that their privacy is not safe even in the walls of their homes, and after cases like Amazon Echo’s data called in a murder case, and Wikileaks Vault 7 data dump which revealed a host of CIA hacking tools, they have become even more skeptical. If the government can use a Samsung Smart TV as a camera to record your every move, why not another in-home device like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home?
To gain some insight, a YouTuber Michael Hraba asked his Google Assistant an innocent enough question, but with some bizarre results.
“Okay Google,” Michael Hraba asks, “Do you know what the CIA is?”
After taking a couple of seconds, the devices gave an answer that is akin to paranoia going zero to hundred real quick!
“No government entity, U.S. or otherwise, has direct access to our users’ information. Respect for the privacy and security of data you store with Google underpins our approach to producing data in response to legal requests. You can learn more at Google’s transparency report.”
A possible future answer,
“CIA? What CIA? Is that a Turkish cuisine?”
