Some people have no problem putting a little webcam in their toilet bowl so that the world can watch them eliminate every morning. Personally I prefer to keep my business private. I don't need any "vindication" to be happy with my decision to protect my privacy. If you don't understand the value of privacy nobody can explain it to you - but they may watch your morning broadcasts.
You don't see any difference between people getting a Google-connected device (like a Google Home or Pixel phone) and those that install a public webcam in their bathroom?
Political turmoil. Putting this data in the hands of FAANG means it's just one NSL away from being used by the government.
It's foolish to think that the relative stability of western governments since the 1950s is a permanent condition. This is a blink of an eye in historical terms.
At it's core, this is just "whataboutism". Yes, phones have a lot more sensors. Phones also give you some control around what gets recorded when. Even if phones were just as bad, doesn't mean the solution is capitulating completely and putting listening devices all over my house. Quite the opposite actually.
As an aside, this is why I would never use an Android phone. At least Apple, for all their faults, allows me to keep my data on my phone and treats privacy, user consent, and app permissions as serious matters. Meanwhile, Onavo is still available in the Play Store[1].
Edit: It's telling that you didn't respond to my reasons for why this technology is potentially harmful, and instead just reached for "but what about phones?" I would love to hear your argument for why corporate or government abuse of data from always-online, always-listening devices like Alexa and Google Home is not a real concern.
I reached for "what about phones" because these devices seem very similar except they have a better speaker and fewer sensors. The Google one even runs Android IIRC. If I say "OK Google, who does Hunter Pence play for?" and my Google Home answers the query rather than my phone, what's the difference?
Frankly, they seem like less of a privacy concern to me than a smartphone because they don't also track my movements.
> I would love to hear your argument for why corporate or government abuse of data from always-online, always-listening devices like Alexa and Google Home is not a real concern.
It is a concern, just not a big one. I use an Android phone (and an iPad) so I figure that horse have left the barn. I'm willing to accept some risk if there are benefits. For example, I risk my life every time I drive my car. If I'm willing to take on that very real risk, why would a hypothetical about an internet connected device doing much less harm scare me?
Your point about using Apple exclusively is a good one. If I were more worried about it I would do the same.
I believe there's either a trigger somewhere in Amazon's or Google's PR to post the classic 'but what about ur phone' whenever someone is pushing back against IOT recording devices or we've become so brainwashed that we do their job without even realizing it. I don't know which of the two is sadder.
What's the difference between a Google Home and a Pixel phone sitting side-by-side on the table, which one is the bigger threat to my privacy? What about when I leave the home and take my GPS-capable phone and leave the Google Home on that table? Which is a bigger threat now?
