Tag Archives: privacy

Is Your Smartphone the Spy In Your Pocket?

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We’ve all had it happen to us, even if we didn’t take much notice.

You’re venting to a friend about your least favorite coworker- could he just FOR ONCE not heat his leftover fish in the breakroom microwave?- and within 30 minutes an ad pops up in your Facebook feed that has an eerie connection to your recent conversation.

An odor-eliminator. Or a microwave sale. Or a blog dedicated to improving happiness and wellbeing in the workplace.

Maybe you just scroll past and think, “Huh, weird.”

But let’s stop for a second and really think about this.

All you did was carry on a normal conversation. Your iPhone was just sitting in your back pocket or purse. Yet somehow Facebook captured the key words of your conversation, converted them into data, and slapped highly customized marketing ads directly into your live feed.

It’s one thing to see Facebook ads for dog food after you order your Golden Retriever’s kibble on Amazon- we’re all pretty used to this convergence of internet usage habits and marketing- but it’s infinitely stranger to see it happen when the words are coming out of your mouth (and never typed into your phone!) during any normal part of your day.

So let’s break this down- are you just paranoid, or is your phone really listening to and using your every word?

What Do the Experts Say?

Cell phone manufacturers, of course, deny that your phone can listen to your conversations or speech without your consent.

Representatives including Marsha Blackburn and Robert Latta wrote to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Larry Page back in July 2018 to express their concerns that smartphones could “collect ‘non-triggered’ audio data from users’ conversations near a smartphone in order to hear a ‘trigger’ phrase, such as ‘Okay Google’ or ‘Hey Siri.’”

Apple responded with claims that iPhones never record audio while listening for commands. This may be true, but it doesn’t address the fact that third-party applications can still gain access and use ‘non-triggered’ data without your knowledge or consent. Apple can’t control exactly how apps like Facebook utilize data, and they can’t ban every app that quietly breaks the rules.

The Wall Street Journal agrees. It reported, “Facebook is now so good at watching what we do online- and even offline, wandering around the physical world- it doesn’t need to hear us. [Yet they do.] Advertising is an important staple of the free internet, but the companies buying and selling ads are turning into stalkers. We need to understand what they’re doing, and what we can- or can’t- do to limit them.”

Creepy Examples

Still not convinced that your cellphone is tuned to your every word? Consider this.

I had a conversation at the beginning of December with my husband. The daycare provider for our daughter had to relocate suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving us with two full-time jobs and zero childcare. Not the best situation.

We went back and forth trying to discuss our options, but couldn’t agree on a solution. So I sunk into the couch, frustrated and upset, and opened Facebook to mindlessly scroll through my live feed.

Can you guess the very first ad that popped up as I scrolled?

What do you know, a potential solution to the exact problem my husband and I had just been discussing verbally.

That’s far from the only proof that my iPhone- and yours, too!- is listening to conversations and sending keyword data to create targeted marketing.

I had an argument with my son just this morning because he wouldn’t get out of bed to walk the dog. I spewed out a parental lecture about the responsibilities of walking the dog and staying consistent to his schedule, then stomped out to walk the darn dog myself. When I headed back inside and glanced at Facebook, take a wild guess at the advertisement I saw after a few scrolls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, this is definitely NOT our collective imagination at work. Our cell phones are listening to us, and short of putting your phone in a glass of water and walking far, far into the middle of the forest to have a conversation, this is our new 21st-century reality.

Short of deleting your Facebook app and disconnecting from your smartphone, your best protections include strict privacy settings, precautions, and self-education.

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Is Your Amazon Alexa Spying On You?

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Is Your Amazon Alexa Spying On You?

While it’s true that voice-activated assistants like Amazon Alexa are intriguing uses of artificial intelligence with the potential to provide information and perform tasks efficiently, they also raise vital security and privacy questions. Is your Amazon Alexa spying on you? As Facebook’s recent controversy with its data access proved, our nation is currently facing an unprecedented crossroads as we work to balance the implications of our own inventions with our desire to control our personal information.

Checkmarx, a security firm that provides tools for developers to rest the security of their software before public release, proved that Amazon Alexa isn’t impervious to becoming swept up in the privacy debate. Using nothing more than the features given to developers, researchers at Checkmarx were able to turn Amazon Alexa into a spying device. Yes, you’re reading that right. It has been proven that Alexa can be hacked with relative ease to listen to your every word.

Amazon has since fixed the attack and put safeguards in place, but their updated coding cannot mitigate the larger point that Checkmarx just made: some of our most common household technologies can potentially be used against us to steal our personal information.

 

How Did Checkmarx Turn Amazon Alexa Into a Spying Device?

If you have an Alexa or other virtual assistant, then you are familiar with how it is supposed to work. Alexa “wakes up” and begins listening when it hears “Alexa” and then follows a limited script for the purpose of its activation. Alexa records the user’s interaction with the script and shuts down after executing the necessary tasks. All Checkmarx needed to do was modify the tightly controlled sequence to make Alexa record more than it should.

Checkmarx simply attached their hacking code to a standard Alexa app, like a calculator. The researchers then ensured that Alexa would continue listening, even when it would normally shut down, by preventing a “flag” to end the session. As long as that flag is open, Alexa will keep listening to the user. The researchers also identified how to have Alexa record every word and maintain a transcript.

The end result? Alexa wakes, launches a malicious app, gives the benign response that was requested by the user, and then remains active, listening and recording silently.

 

What Are the Implications for Alexa and Other virtual Assistants?

If you are a loyal Alexa user, there are a few components of reassurance, even though this entire episode is most definitely concerning. First, Checkmarx couldn’t disable the blue light that indicates when Alexa is active. Theoretically, if your Alexa was hacked and listening ten minutes after its last request, you could see the blue light and know something was wrong. The downside there is the minimal chance your Alexa is located somewhere that you look frequently. Most users keep Alexa stored out of site for convenience.

Furthermore, Checkmarx and Amazon have been working together since the hack occurred to make it more difficult for people with bad intentions to follow in Checkmarx’ footsteps. The Alexa app-certification process has also become more stringent to detect and reject all eavesdropping apps. Theoretically, anyway.

How to Protect Yourself

The technology is complex, but the solutions are still fairly simple. Place your Alexa or other virtual assistant in a place where the blue “active” light is immediately noticeable. If it remains on after your Alexa should have gone back to sleep, you’ll know to be suspicious. It will also help to keep yourself informed of technology blogs like this so that any new hacks are on your radar immediately.

If all else fails… unplug your Alexa and start doing the things the old-fashioned way again. We all survived without it before, right?

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