Terms of Service and Alexa

Let’s be 100% honest, literally none of us read the terms of service on any device or update that our technology has ever gone through. I think the most extensive reading I have done for a professional document is surgery paperwork. When I read the “Do You Read Terms of Service Contracts? Not Many Do, Research Shows”, I was not surprised that those involved in the interview did not read any terms of service but I did find a point made at one point very interesting. I thought it was interesting that in a terms of service, it was said that by agreeing to it you would be giving away your first born child to see if those agreeing would actually read the details of what they were signing. Nobody seemed to have a problem with that little detail and that shows that people don’t actually know what they are agreeing to, they just wanted to get through the acknowledgement of the terms to keep using their devices. The other point that was made about people not realizing what they are agreeing to when they think they have nothing to hide was when they said that people don’t actually know where their information is being used. I never even thought about the fact that something as simple as what is being purchased at the grocery store could be sent out to insurance companies where those companies can judge your health risks.

Lastly, I have always thought that Alexa items are creepy (and Siri and every other voice for electronics) even though I am the owner of one of those devices. The only thing mine does is catch its name or words that sound very similar, similar enough to activate it to start listening. One story that always creeps me out is when my boyfriend’s family was talking in a different room than their Amazon device and never said “Alexa” but was talking about how the device listening to conversations all the time and not just when it is activated. The device then responded from the other room “I don’t listen, I only listen to key words”. Then I read the article about the child buying a dollhouse through Alexa and it almost freaks me out that these devices are even in our houses!