Tuesday, June 4, 2019

CA 'Anti-Eavesdropping' Bill Targets Smart Speakers

In California, smart home speakers might become legally blocked from saving your voice recordingsm reports USAToday.

A bill that's making its way through the state legislature would require manufacturers of smart speakers to get your permission in writing before the intelligent home devices can store your recorded voice. The bill would also ban smart speaker makers from sharing command recordings with third parties.

“Today, the State Assembly sent a strong message to the tech giants who have spent years recording and retaining private conversations in the home via smart devices,” said Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, who authored the bill, in a statement.

If the bill passes, it could present a hindrance to Google, Amazon and Apple, which rely heavily on data and conversations collected from voice assistants to improve their line of smart products.

“Tech giants have provided consumers with a false choice: live in a smart and interconnected home, or keep your conversations private. We can have both." Cunningham said. “Private conversations in the home should remain private, and no company should have the ability to record these conversations without consent.”

“We believe that the combination of strong and balanced regulations, with products that are designed with privacy in mind, will help provide individuals with confidence that they’re in control of their personal information,” a Google spokeswoman told Mercury News.

It is possible to delete recordings from smart home speakers, but those recordings are made by default, at least for now.

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