I continue to be quite surprised at the lack of understanding that people have about personal assistants such as Alexa and Echo. It seems logical to me that when you yell out “Alexa, turn on the lights!” Alexa is using voice recognition technology to recognize your voice for the command and is processing that command not through the use of magic.

People still don’t understand that when you buy a personal assistant and set it up, that you are agreeing to the terms of use of the product, which includes the collection, disclosure, use and mining of all of the data/commands/things you say while it is on and that it is listening and recording everything that you or anyone else in your house is saying. How else could it work and why don’t people get that?

I have reminded several business folks this week to look at their working environment at home, determine if they have a personal assistant or other IoT device anywhere in the working environment, and to turn it off while working. Otherwise, everything said during the work day is being collected, recorded, transmitted and used, and chances are that your employer is not o.k. with that disclosure.

There are reasons we don’t have recording devices in our offices or at our workplace. Those reasons are no different for home offices. Respect for the confidentiality and privacy of company business and your own personal information should be no different at home than it is in the office.

Be aware of the IoT devices in your home with a microphone, including personal assistants, be aware of the mobile apps that you download that include access to your microphone and check the settings on each frequently as you discuss confidential business or personal information from your new norm of working from home.

Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.