Personal digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant sounded quite futuristic, a few short years ago. Now, the future is all here. This future is implanted, exacerbated and omnipresent. Digital assistants can be found in your office, home, car, hotel, phone, and many other places.
They are recently going through a massive transformation. They run on operating systems that are nourished by artificial intelligence (AI). They observe and collect needed data in real-time. Also, they have the ability to gain information from different sources such as smart devices and cloud services. They have the capability to put the information into context using Artificial Intelligence to make sense of the situation.
Although we are in a long way in the design and execution of these Artificial Intelligence technologies. But there is still a lot more work to be executed in this arena. Most of the data these digital assistants collect and use includes personal, potentially identifiable and possibly sensitive information.
Can Amazon’s Alexa or other personal digital assistants break the privacy and security of our data? Possibly, Yes. There is also a dark side to these virtual assistants.
1. Welcoming service
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Imagine the following situation. You are expecting some guests. Your guest arrives. The outdoor security camera captures them walking up to your home. Then a voice welcomes them and unlocks the door. Your digital assistant gives your message to your guests that you are out and will be home soon.
Your digital assistant then plays a selection of your guest’s favorite songs from your Spotify friend’s network or through your home audio system.
Welcoming duties now complete. Your digital assistant goes silent. It is very fascinating how a digital assistant can accurately and autonomously validate the identity of the guest and even select their favorite songs.
2. Hosting assistants
Digital assistants can record conversations, images and a lot of other pieces of sensitive personal information, including the location from our smartphones. Their software is developed and maintained by companies with inbuilt algorithm to capture data.
Companies are constantly thinking of new ways to collect and make use of the data. The fundamental issue with these digital assistants is that they are vulnerable to technical and process failures. Digital assistants can be hacked, resulting in the breaking of users’ privacy.
3. Awareness Privileged
This interesting paradox is based upon individuals who are aware of and sensitive to problems of privacy typically limiting the usage of digital tools. On the other side, users who are less prone to protect their private privacy greatly incorporate personal assistants into their digital routines.
Digital assistants either Start recording data or wait for an order to “wake up” or become activated. They do not limit any data collection to the owners or authorized users’ information.
Personal digital assistants may collect and process illegal users’ personal data, for example, their voices. In today’s digitally divided society, someone who is privacy savvy may not invite such equipment into their routines, while others may accept or rationalize such behaviors.
4. Respecting others’ privacy
Personal digital assistant process different sources of information and data about the guest to operate as a smart host. The etiquette-conscious upbringing tells about having a social and ethical responsibility to respect everyone’s values when it comes to digital technologies.
The implications and growth of these technologies have been so notable and quick that no one has been able to redefine social standards and expectations. The etiquette rules are universal. It is to be attentive, honest and kind. Digital devices can record your colleague’s and guest’s voices, images or other information.
5. Maintaining our collective privacy
Privacy is a social standard term that everyone has to work together to maintain. The government’s role in the complex paradigm is critical. We need stronger privacy laws to look upon privacy issues associated with personal digital assistants.
Amazon, Google, and Apple are making the rules. Other jurisdictions have made and implemented regulations. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) already exists and provides oversight on data collection for a wide variety of household devices.
Digital assistance is not even becoming a reality and people have already started fearing it. The intelligent personal assistants form an important part of our lives. As AI technology advances they will become even more prevalent. The question is, will you accept them even if your privacy is compromised?