Facebook Delays Home-Speaker Unveil Amid Data Crisis (bloomberg.com) 84
Bloomberg reports: Facebook has decided not to unveil new home products at its major developer conference in May, in part because the public is currently so outraged about the social network's data-privacy practices, according to people familiar with the matter. The company's new hardware products, connected speakers with digital-assistant and video-chat capabilities, are undergoing a deeper review to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data, the people said.
While the hardware wasn't expected to be available until the fall, the company had hoped to preview the devices at the largest annual gathering of Facebook developers, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal plans. The devices are part of Facebook's plan to become more intimately involved with users' everyday social lives, using artificial intelligence -- following a path forged by Amazon.com and its Echo in-home smart speakers. As concerns escalate about Facebook's collection and use of personal data, now may be the wrong time to ask consumers to trust it with even more information by placing a connected device in their homes.
While the hardware wasn't expected to be available until the fall, the company had hoped to preview the devices at the largest annual gathering of Facebook developers, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal plans. The devices are part of Facebook's plan to become more intimately involved with users' everyday social lives, using artificial intelligence -- following a path forged by Amazon.com and its Echo in-home smart speakers. As concerns escalate about Facebook's collection and use of personal data, now may be the wrong time to ask consumers to trust it with even more information by placing a connected device in their homes.
Good God- please can this! (Score:3)
After the failed Facebook-Phone I can't imagine Facebook-Alexa would be anymore successful. I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home. If they were willing to have an ear they would have an Alexa or a Google Home by now.
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I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home.
I still can't believe anyone would tolerate a Google mic in their home, but here we are. Agreed that most people who want one of these will have gone with Google or Amazon, but FB does have some zealots so nothing will surprise me.
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Re:Good God- please can this! (Score:4, Funny)
I just picked Google because it seems like the worse actor between them and Amazon. I don't want any company having a mic in my house, but I'm not going to judge people who decide they value the convenience these devices add over their aversion to an open mic. Why any company? Because these devices provide value for some users and not everyone sees targeted advertising as an invasion of their privacy. If the mic doesn't bother somebody and they really want to be able to say, "Alexa play light jazz," that's not my decision to make for them.
Between Facebook, Google, and Amazon, I really don't trust any of them to be responsible with my data. Why can't Microsoft make one of these? Reliable, trustworthy Microsoft.
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Because these devices provide value for some users and not everyone sees targeted advertising as an invasion of their privacy. If the mic doesn't bother somebody and they really want to be able to say, "Alexa play light jazz," that's not my decision to make for them.
I think the key here is that users have to be able to make informed consent. Not just accept a shrink wrap disclaimer that doesn't really inform them about the full implications in order to get instant gratification.
Informed consent would imply the user not only knowing what data the company say they collect right now, but what the capabilities are, and how the data can be used for other purposes than playing light jazz. Including what the implications of a data breach could be.
If a user isn't capable of
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I think the key here is that users have to be able to make informed consent.
I agree. But, if it's more profitable to be shady, and if you have a big enough customer base that either doesn't care or doesn't know any better, shady practices may prevail.
Personally, I'd like to know more about what these companies are collecting on me as-is and I'll be damned before I'll buy one of these assistants.
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But the recent revelations about Facebook show that they will collect things that they know you don't want them collecting, and bury the consent somewhere in a general eula.
I don't want corporate microphones around my house from ANY company - LEAST of all Facebook
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I think it would be wise for some legislator to draft up a bill requiring people with any such device
operating in their house to post a nice big red notice on their front door to warn visitors that they
may be recorded while on premises.
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It's legal if one party involved in the conversation has consented. If Natalie Portman and I have a conversation in your living room while you are out of the room taking a piss or filling your bathtub with hot grits, in most places in the US you are not legally allowed to record it. In some states, both involved parties must consent. Third parties, like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple, can often also record conversations and phone calls in private locations with one-party consent but they also don't o
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...Why can't Microsoft make one of these? Reliable, trustworthy Microsoft.
I can't tell if that last comment about microsoft was sarcastic or not.
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Sometimes I don't know how thick the sarcasm needs to be to get through. I thought for sure that "reliable, trustworthy Microsoft" would ring every warning bell.
Re:Good God- please can this! (Score:4, Interesting)
But I wouldn't want that shit in MY house.
Re:Good God- please can this! (Score:4)
I can't believe anyone wants this type of appliance in their place. First, if you want decent sound, you need two speakers, and none of these support that. Apple will in a future update, but not right now. Second, do I need another privacy violating device? Not really. My desktop machine doesn't have a mic or camera on it unless I plug in a headset, and that is fine with me.
What does this device give someone? If I want Siri or whatnot, my phone can handle that. If I want music, I have good Yamaha monitors that can be cranked, and give a far more accurate reproduction of sound than what Bluetooth can do. There isn't anything that this device gives that is worth having the extreme invasions of privacy that go with them. Plus, they are not cheap. For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.
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There isn't anything that this device gives that is worth having the extreme invasions of privacy that go with them.
I agree, but that's entirely a matter of opinion. Other people may not agree with us and that's their right.
Plus, they are not cheap. For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.
I don't know what you consider a decent set of decent speakers, but you can get one of these assistants for $50 or $100.
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For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.
Where can I find a decent set of speakers for $29? That's what I paid for my alexa dot.
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The trick is to pull the battery out every time you get home and then smash the phone with a hammer. It's a little pricey, but it's the only way to be sure.
Yes, smartphones have mics (don't all phones?), but if word got out that the mic is on when it shouldn't be there will be major complaints. Some people are already suspicious and complaining, but I don't know of any PROOF of smartphones eavesdropping except when compromised.
Trust (Score:2)
I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home.
No worse than Google, Amazon, etc. Honestly I don't really trust any of them though I will agree that I trust Facebook the least of the big tech firms. By a lot.
There also is the fact that I don't have any use for this thinly disguised spy devices. They strike me as a solution looking for a problem. I don't use Siri on my phone so it's unclear why I would be interested in wiring my house with another service I won't use that might be spying on me to boot.
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I can't see anyone wanting any tech giant's microphone in their home. Or a TV/cable box with a microphone and/or camera in it. All these devices are designed to spy on the user who has little to no control over what information is gathered... having one is an abdication of any concern for privacy: your own and anyone else who might be in your home.
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I really have no interest in tech companies being more intimately involved in my everyday life.
So you don't want an Alexa powered fleshlight for Christmas?
Re:Yeah, no .... (Score:4, Funny)
...Alexa powered fleshlight...
I'd go with Alexa, but I'd be thinking of Siri.
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I'd go with Alexa, but I'd be thinking of Siri.
Imagine how embarrassed people would be if their friends found out they used a Google-Mini.
And what, pray tell? (Score:1)
Makes people think that Amazon etc. are any different in their business practices? All of these devices are basically surveillance machines that people willingly put in their homes, Facebook is far from unique. It's actually a toss up whether they or Google are the worst culprits.
Re:And what, pray tell? (Score:4, Interesting)
That would be a great poll idea, wouldn't it?
Which smart speaker would you trust the most?
Apple HomePod
Amazon Echo
Google Home
Facebook what's-its-name
Re:And what, pray tell? (Score:4, Funny)
That would be a great poll idea, wouldn't it?
You're missing the last option.
In this case, I'd actually trust Cowboyneal listening in my living room more than any of the above.
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I guess option #5 would be "Trust no one", as a reference to Fox Mulder.
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They all suck (Score:2)
Which smart speaker would you trust the most?
The real answer is "None of the Above" but put a gun to my head and the answer is clearly Apple. Why? I trust their profit motive the most. Apple just wants to sell me more Apple products and actually has a not completely terrible record with regard to privacy. All the others want to sell data about me to third parties of unknown reliability. Amazon would be the next option, again because of their profit motive which is to sell me physical and digital stuff. Google and Facebook I don't trust at all.
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The real answer is "None of the Above" but put a gun to my head and the answer is clearly Apple. Why? I trust their profit motive the most. Apple just wants to sell me more Apple products and actually has a not completely terrible record with regard to privacy. All the others want to sell data about me to third parties of unknown reliability. Amazon would be the next option, again because of their profit motive which is to sell me physical and digital stuff. Google and Facebook I don't trust at all. They are advertising companies start to finish and I have no interest in cooperating with that.
I'd take any Chinese company over Apple. The reason is that you can be fairly certain that they eavesdrop, but that it's the Chinese government that controls it. And they have no interest in private individuals who don't know anything that might benefit them, and certainly won't hand data over to bad apples in US law enforcement or US political factions.
With Apple or any US based company, that's not a given.
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The one that breaks the easiest if smashed against a hard surface.
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With Amazon, at least we know we are the customers (if people stopped buying at Amazon, they'd soon go bankrupt).
With Facebook and their like, we are not the customers; we are the products (if advertisers stopped advertising at Facebook, they'd soon go bankrupt, or at least you hope).
Put Facebook in the home? (Score:2)
Who on earth would want to have a Facebook enabled "anything" in their home?
Re:Put Facebook in the home? (Score:4, Insightful)
Who on Earth would want Facebook anything?
FTFY
Dystopian outcomes. (Score:3)
All the tech companies that have one of these hot mics have a business model that can support it... except Facebook. I suspect that Facebook would be the company that would result in the dystopian outcome that we all fear could come about from these "home speakers" because their business model is simply to gather information and sell it.
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All the tech companies that have one of these hot mics have a business model that can support it... except Facebook.
Remember, folks, a foreign device in your home DOES NOT need a hot mic to spy one you. It doesn't even need power to spy on you. There are plenty of passive listening devices that can be remotely activated, pioneered by this one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
To be sure, smash your Facebook Home Spy Speaker apart with a hammer, and look for hollow spaces . . .
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Remember, folks, a foreign device in your home DOES NOT need a hot mic to spy one you.
First of all, I doubt the president even reads, much less reads Slashdot. ;)
Second, the Russians don't need to spy on the president to find out his plans because he reports to Putin already.
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*cough* Google *cough*.
FacePlant! (Score:2)
Coming soon....
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FaceSpook?
Facebook home products?? (Score:2)
Why? I mean, other than to make Facebook more money and to encroach further on Google and Amazon's territory. But why would a Facebook user want such a thing?
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Why? I mean, other than to make Facebook more money and to encroach further on Google and Amazon's territory. But why would a Facebook user want such a thing?
Some people like to share everything. One of my coworkers annoyingly takes photos of her lunch... EVERY DAY and uploads it. You can probably predict how long she spends on the toilet by watching her facebook feed to see what she's eating.
Maybe the Facebook-Alexa can update your relationship status based on whether it hears any moaning coming from the bedroom. Moaning therefore Relationship Status = in a relati
Consumers upset consumer tracker tracks (Score:1)
Consumers are upset that a Consumer Tracking Company Tracks Them.
This adds to negative press that blames Facebook for being Facebook, and draws attention away from the Democrats' utter incompetence in failing to use Facebook effectively and the Republicans' idiotic use of foreign nationals and foreign companies to use Facebook effectively.
The problem with leaving Facebook is the network effect. Force them to use open standards for their messaging platform and people will mostly ditch them tomorrow.
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Consumers are upset that a Consumer Tracking Company Tracks Them.
Consumers? I get that Alexa is to make it easy to buy stuff from Amazon but what exactly is Facebook hoping to sell via such a device?
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They'll probably push an update to the Oculus that turns it into one of these things, if I had to guess. A lot of people bought that thing recently because they slashed the price on it so much.
Does not compute (Score:5, Interesting)
to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data
There are things you just shouldn't have any authority to decide on trade-offs for, and especially trade-offs on the behalf of others.
I think this highlights why the US needs data protection regulations like the EU and other European countries have, where personal data is owned by the user, and not the company that collects it, and where companies who create databases of user data beyond what's needed for a transaction have to provide a justification and obtain a permit.
Giving them a carte blanche and letting them decide for themselves what "trade-offs" they want to play is stupid.
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Their conference is on the 1st of may.
Deliberately, to ensure that non-Americans like EU officials won't attend?
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Should've held it at April 1st.
Any claims about privacy would have been so much more topical that day.
The Easter Bunny.. (Score:2)
Is not Pleased with this comment. Or is it just a April Fools Bunny joke?
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Nah. An Easter joke is this:
Hey Jesus, what you gonna do for Easter?
Dunno. Prolly just hangin' 'round.
Right tradeoffs? (Score:2)
... ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data...
Facebook is incapable of making the "right trade offs" regarding user privacy. User privacy runs against the very core of Facebook's existence.
The actual product name... (Score:2)
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Oh come on now. You're just Putin us on.
Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose (Score:3)
Let's face it: Anyone trusting them on ANYTHING anymore cannot be helped. If you still can't understand how you're nothing but a commodity to that company, well, there's no amount of evidence, argument or convincing going to be of any use.
And if you really believe them when they say that they will "improve", there isn't anything left to be said either. Their whole business model is to sell your privacy to whoever is willing to hand them money. That is their business model. In case you don't believe it, just tell me what else this company could possible sell to make money.
And if that doesn't work for you, how about greed and miserliness. Ponder how much Facebook is "worth". Ponder what you got for being sold by them. Now tell me you don't feel like you've been getting a raw deal. They sell you for thousands of dollars and you get ... umm... a place to put pictures of your lunch.
Facebook sez... (Score:2)
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The problem, as I see it, is that you are misconstruing what Facebook is. Facebook's business model depends on getting the users of its social media system to willingly (and also, as it appears, unwittingly) reveal personal and private information about themselves so that information can be sold to other business to use for their marketing. As such, you are not a customer of Facebook; you are its product. The companies Facebook sells your information (and access to, by serving as a platform to feed you targ
It's time to move on, people. (Score:2)
Facebook delays... (Score:2)
...announcing their latest surveillance strategy, an "always on" microphone in your home amid current media exposure about their poor/incompetent data privacy practices.
Who'da thunk it'd be so easy to get people to pay for and install bugging devices themselves?
Anyway, too late Facebook. Amazon got there first.
Facebook doorbell (Score:1)