Disney Alexa in all rooms?

[NoTime42]

It looks like Disney will be adding this Disney themed Amazon Echo device to rooms. I don’t see if this includes DVC.
Guests can engage the device by saying “Hey Disney” instead of “Hey Alexa”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1442892731643142151

 

[DLgal]

This is a horrible idea. There are so many privacy concerns with these things. I'd unplug it.

 

[sethschroeder]

First thing I will do is remove the device. All I can think of is that Amazon is paying them to put this in the rooms.

 

[nwandless32]

Why have these in the rooms? Seems like they should spend money in other places.

 

[Marionnette]

Hey #DisneyParks! If you really wanted to put money towards technology that improves the guest experience, you would fix your websites instead of meaningless crap like this.

 

[Brian Noble]

This is a horrible idea. There are so many privacy concerns with these things. I'd unplug it.

I'm not usually a big time privacy person, but I'd unplug this too.

 

[LPnerd]

This is a horrible idea. There are so many privacy concerns with these things. I'd unplug it.

yep, my thoughts exactly. people are really getting lazy to the point of not thinking clearly about how much privacy they are losing with all these devices. Pretty soon we will be dealing with star wars robots at the front desk, yuck.

 

[Brett Wyman]

This is a horrible idea. There are so many privacy concerns with these things. I'd unplug it.

You can just mute the mic too.

 

[disneyseniors]

I heard there is a place underneath to turn it off. I would also unplug it and take it to the front desk. What were they thinking? I wonder how much disney spent on this, that no one has asked for or wanted? It would be money best spent elsewhere.

 

[DLgal]

I heard there is a place underneath to turn it off. I would also unplug it and take it to the front desk. What were they thinking? I wonder how much disney spent on this, that no one has asked for or wanted? It would be money best spent elsewhere.

Guessing Disney spent close to nothing on this. Amazon likely funded it for data mining purposes.

 

[RoseGold]

yep, my thoughts exactly. people are really getting lazy to the point of not thinking clearly about how much privacy they are losing with all these devices. Pretty soon we will be dealing with star wars robots at the front desk, yuck.

people will pay dearly to be checked in by those robots.

 

[kilik64]

You can just mute the mic too.

But how do you know that its actually muted?

Best bet is to unplug it, cover it in a towel, and then put it in the room safe.

Cant be too careful.

 

[Brett Wyman]

But how do you know that its actually muted?

Best bet is to unplug it, cover it in a towel, and then put it in the room safe.

Cant be too careful.

On the home version a big red light comes on and you cant communicate with it.

 

[pianomanzano]

On the home version a big red light comes on and you cant communicate with it.

Doesn't mean it still isn't listening. There's a reason why Amazon smart devices are dirt cheap, their profit isn't from the device itself but from all the data it captures while using it.

 

[Brian Noble]

Someone did a teardown of the echo dot, and the mute button cuts power to the mic. That doesn't mean they all do, but at least in this case it isn't listening.

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-alexa-from-listening-to-you
Of course, the easiest way to know you've cut power to the mic is to cut power to the box....as long as it doesn't have a battery backup.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Don’t want this!

 

[kanerf]

Amaspy!

 

[Sparky984]

It doesn’t bother me but I understand why others wouldn’t want it. How many of you have a smart phone with a virtual assistant? How do you know that isn’t listening?

 

[Brian Noble]

Some "smart" devices process the trigger phrase locally, and do not send voice to the cloud until after the trigger phrase is recognized. Others send everything to the cloud, and/or process the trigger phrase remotely (which requires sending everything). Some have started to move to entirely-local processing, so nothing is shipped.

You do have to trust that the vendor is telling you the truth about how the system works (or someone you trust has done an analysis of the network traffic off the device). And, that's sometimes more than the vendor deserves. For example, the Google Nest home security system has a microphone that was never disclosed when the device was sold.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...ne-google-assistant-built-in-security-privacy

 

[Kae]

Because your phones aren't listening to you?