Smart Speakers
Launched: 2014–2016
Reach: An estimated 66 million Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod units were in use in the U.S. at the end of 2018
The promise: Voice assistants have been lauded for their ability to make you more productive at home or work, letting you do everything from scheduling calendar appointments and reminders to setting distraction-busting timers.
The peril: There have been at least three reports of people from Amazon, Apple, and Google listening to bits of captured audio for the sake of quality control. Also, law enforcement could ask all three firms for voice-recording data to help solve crimes. (The companies say they comply when required to through a subpoena or search warrant.)
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