From Pine View Farm

The Watchers 0

A New Hampshire court wants Amazon’s Alexa digital surveillance device assistant to testify in a murder trial. Here’s a bit from the story:

Now, a judge has ordered Amazon to turn over any recordings the Echo device may have made from Jan. 27, the day the women were killed, until Jan. 29, when police discovered them tucked beneath a tarp under the back porch.

“The court finds there is probable cause to believe the server(s) and/or records maintained for or by Amazon.com contain recordings made by the Echo smart speaker from the period of Jan. 27 to Jan. 29, 2017 … and that such information contains evidence of crimes committed against Ms. Sullivan, including the attack and possible removal of the body from the kitchen.”

The story goes on to say that Amazon is inclined not to cooperate “without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us”* in the interests its customers’ “privacy” (because, I reckon, that belongs to Amazon).

I will be curious to see how this turns out.

But this is certain: So long as persons unthinkingly invite Big Data into their personal spaces and willingly subject themselves to perpetual corporate surveillance, we will be seeing more like this.

Me, I can flip my own damn light switch.

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*Like, maybe, just supposin’ here, a judge’s order?

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