Re:Amazon Sends 1,700 Alexa Voice Recordings to a Random Person
by LinuxBender on Thursday December 20, 2018 @02:40PM
(#18728360)
When my throw away phone is transmitting, it gets warm. I also set it next to an amplifier and I can actually hear it bleed into the amp when it chats with the cell site. I can even tell a couple of seconds ahead of time when I am getting a text or a phone call.
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Re:Amazon Sends 1,700 Alexa Voice Recordings to a Random Person
by Klathmon on Thursday December 20, 2018 @02:44PM
(#18728408)
And all a hypothetical "bug" needs to do is listen for some key phrases, and send a single byte or a few bytes of data across the wire, even through side channels.
I can imagine a system that throws an extra byte or 2 on those "chats" with the cell tower, or even abuses the timing that it decides to reach out and check the tower as the method of communication.
The actual voice recording and processing tech is small enough that it could be thrown right alongside the actual phone, for pretty cheap, and could run entirely separate from the phone itself, maybe even having its own battery!
Re:Amazon Sends 1,700 Alexa Voice Recordings to a Random Person
by jedberg on Thursday December 20, 2018 @02:43PM
(#18728403)
Yeah, but you can also do the same with the Alexa device by watching it transmit data over the wire. If you think watching the transmissions is enough to prove your cell phone isn't recording, then it should be enough to prove the Alexa isn't recording.
Or not be sufficient in both cases.