# Are people crazy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556 "2016-12-01T21:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/1 "2016-12-01T21:07:48Z")
I’m a bit of a luddite so I might have this wrong, but in regards to the Amazon Echo and the google Home, people are actually putting this in their house willingly? As I understand it its hooked up to the web or cloud, and it listens to everything you say in the house. Winston Smith, if he were real, would be shaking his head in astonishment. I’m sure they claim there are safeguards, but get real. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/2 "2016-12-01T21:21:40Z")
No Luddite here, but yeah. I wouldn’t have one of those things. ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/3 "2016-12-01T21:27:39Z")
My ex didn’t want a computer in the house because she didn’t want it spying on her. I scoffed. Now that I know Zuckerberg covers the camera on his computer, and crap like this Echo chingadera is becoming more common, I scoff no more. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/4 "2016-12-01T21:47:59Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > As I understand it its hooked up to the web or cloud, and it listens to everything you say in the house. Well, yes and no. As with your Apple or Android-based smartphone, both devices listen specifically for a keyword which (in effect) wakes the device up and starts it listening for further instructions. Nothing goes over the Internet until the “wake it up” keyword has been spoken. (And with the amazon Echo device - my daughter has one - LEDs light up when that event happens and the device is listening for further instructions.) So if the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices freak you out, so should your iPhone or Android-based smartphone. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/5 "2016-12-01T21:54:43Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > Well, yes and no. As with your Apple or Android-based smartphone, both devices listen specifically for a keyword which (in effect) wakes the device up and starts it listening for further instructions. Nothing goes over the Internet until the “wake it up” keyword has been spoken. > > (And with the amazon Echo device - my daughter has one - LEDs light up when that event happens and the device is listening for further instructions.) > > So if the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices freak you out, so should your iPhone or Android-based smartphone. So, 1. It’s totally impossible to make it listen unless the owner says the “wake it up” keyword(there’s no way to “backdoor” another keyword), and 2. There is absolutely no way that it can listen in without having the light come on? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/6 "2016-12-01T22:04:45Z")
I’m definitely crazy, but I ain’t installing that stuff in my home. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/7 "2016-12-01T22:28:59Z")
Those things are all well and good until your house decides it wants to father a child. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/8 "2016-12-01T22:29:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So, > > 1. It’s totally impossible to make it listen unless the owner says the “wake it up” keyword(there’s no way to “backdoor” another keyword), and > 2. There is absolutely no way that it can listen in without having the light come on? I think you know the answers to both these questions. But as \*\*sevenwood \*\* points out, if this is your axiom for not getting one of these things, why are you not equally afraid of your phone? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/9 "2016-12-01T22:34:34Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I think you know the answers to both these questions. But as \*\*sevenwood \*\* points out, if this is your axiom for not getting one of these things, why are you not equally afraid of your phone? The one I power off between calls? ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/10 "2016-12-01T22:35:17Z")
I don’t have a smart phone or android. Flip phone similar to those from 15 years ago. Said I was a Luddite. Plus the echo and google home have much better microphones. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/11 "2016-12-01T22:39:50Z")
If I have to keep my phone on, it stays in the leather case, rendering the camera useless, and the earpiece pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/12 "2016-12-01T22:41:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The one I power off between calls? To use your own logic: Do you think it’s impossible to have a listening device active after you’ve hit the power off button on your phone? Also, it’s worth noting, most people don’t power off their phone between calls. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/13 "2016-12-01T22:54:09Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > Well, yes and no. As with your Apple or Android-based smartphone, both devices listen specifically for a keyword which (in effect) wakes the device up and starts it listening for further instructions. Nothing goes over the Internet until the “wake it up” keyword has been spoken. > > (And with the amazon Echo device - my daughter has one - LEDs light up when that event happens and the device is listening for further instructions.) > > So if the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices freak you out, so should your iPhone or Android-based smartphone. That’s a setting that can be turned off on my Android phone, and I did so. I wouldn’t buy a listening device to keep in my home like those in the OP, nuh-uh. They’re meant to separate you from your money that much faster under the thin veneer of convenience and I need no help w/ that. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/14 "2016-12-01T23:43:17Z")
I’ve got the perfect security system that is fatal to any incursion on my privacy. If someone eavesdrops on me, or gets into my Instagram or emails… they’ll become so bored that they’ll slit their wrists just to get some excitement into (what’s left of) their life. And if they see my browser history (e.g., “Best mini-van for youth group”), they’ll start cutting at their toes and work their way up. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/15 "2016-12-02T00:26:37Z")
I’m sorry, **Vicsage** , I can’t do that. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/16 "2016-12-02T02:06:33Z")
Disappointed, thought this would be a more general thread about the entire world being mad, with Sir Orangeturd being Exhibit A. Not even a Pit worthy topic, in the end… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/17 "2016-12-02T02:52:09Z")
I would not have one simply because it would be part of the _Internet of Things_. The range of IoT devices are notoriously vulnerable, providing botnets with vast drone armies numbering in the millions that have the capability of pumping TBs/sec at servers they disapprove of. Fuck the IoT. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/18 "2016-12-02T03:41:04Z")
Your TV is probably already listening to everything you say and reporting back. (Seriously) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/19 "2016-12-02T04:56:37Z")
My catch-phrase is, “They crazy!”, and more often than not, I’m proven correct. People think I’m kidding… > [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m definitely crazy, but I ain’t installing that stuff in my home. I don’t even want a doggie-door! Damn coyotes would be trippin’ on my couch! > [@Palooka](#): > > Your TV is probably already listening to everything you say and reporting back. (Seriously) I spun this yarn to my mom, telling her that the TV was secretly spying on her and reporting to “The Man”. I had her convinced in under 5 minutes! 😃 Goddamn, I’m an asshole! ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556/20 "2016-12-02T04:56:39Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Your TV is probably already listening to everything you say and reporting back. (Seriously) Yep, that is the default setting in my wifi Vizio tv. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-crazy/773556.md?page=2)