"With new rivals on the market, Amazon has to do something to help its Alexa devices compete. Until now, Amazon has not given third-party developers access to what you say to the voice assistant. Google Home, though, does. According to sources reported by The Information, Amazon is currently looking at opening up this private transcript data to its developers, which could help them build better voice apps for Alexa. It would also raise serious privacy concerns for users. It's a delicate balancing act between user privacy and developer access, of course, but with rivals like Google and Apple getting into the smart speaker game, Amazon needs to keep its early lead... So far, Alexa developers can only see non-identifying information, like the number of times you use a specific skill, how many times you talk to your Echo device and your location data." https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/12/amazon-developers-private-alexa-transcripts/
Because everybody is an idiot & the truth doesn't matter. The humidity around here is 30-90%, when until ~2010 the max was 25-45%. But only 1/100 people acknowledge this.
So far, this kind of information comes from relatively obscure sources. Sometimes I wonder if, in general, these tech-giants aren't actively influencing or suppressing items like this from reaching the mainstream media, where they're perceived to have greater credibility. There would have to be a huge disclosure via the public media for a mass exodus from this type of product. "Yes, stupid people, we are spying on you." Maybe we are in denial and we rationalize because we're helpless as individuals. "If it's not in my face, it doesn't exist. I have enough on my plate, thank you."
