New technology causes privacy concerns

Reporter: Corey Lazar
Published: Updated:

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Devices such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home have raised concern among buyers, who fear what information Google and Amazon will keep.

The devices are always on and activate when a trigger word is said. When a voice request is made, some of what is said is recorded, then sent to servers and iCloud.

However, Google and Amazon said they built the devices with privacy in mind.

Google said in a statement that they “only stores voice-based queries received immediately after recognizing one of the hot words.” Amazon works in a similar manner.

Technology expert Shaun Book advised buyers to be cautious about what they say out loud.

“The concern is whether or not these devices are spying on you, collecting marketing data and essentially listening to you 24/7,” he said.

The microphones on both devices can be muted. Google said they have advanced security techniques to protect user information.

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