We agree that smart phones could spy on you.
We don't seem to agree about the comparison in general.
A smart phone
- offers a button to disable voice activated features
- remains useful without voice activation
- is arguably (job?) not optional
- is no reason to dismiss feeling uneasy about 100% unrelated, additional 3rd party controlled microphones
Yes, a smart phone can probably pull off any attack on my privacy that I can come up with for the Echo. But that's not relevant for my feelings about the Echo IMHO. I can dislike Android AND iOS. I can worry about smart phones AND express similar things about the Echo.
I'm certainly not a lawyer, and I'm not sure which laws you're referring to, but I know that some laws relate to one's expectation of privacy which would certainly apply to an Echo in your bedroom just as well as your phone.
It's perfectly reasonable not to want an Echo because you don't value its features.
My point is that we may get the emotional 'creepy' factor from thinking about the Echo listening, but that rationally the risks and trust involved are not greater than those with, for example, a smartphone.