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Smart speaker
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<h2 id="accuracy">Accuracy</h2> <p>According to a study by <i><a href="/facts/Proceedings_of_the_National_Academy_of_Sciences_of_the_United_States_of_America/w75CThX0">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</a></i> released In March 2020, the six biggest tech development companies, <a href="/facts/Amazon_(company)/YzUTUVE8">Amazon</a>, <a href="/facts/Apple_Inc./oTJYta3k">Apple</a>, <a href="/facts/Google/GT9Sugza">Google</a>, <a href="/facts/Yandex/RSCatUyn">Yandex</a>, <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a> and <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>, have misidentified more words spoken by "<a href="/facts/Black_people/khyfdI6h">black people</a>" than "<a href="/facts/White_people/DTcnHeMU">white people</a>". The systems tested errors and unreadability, with a 19 and 35 percent discrepancy for the former and a 2 and 20 percent discrepancy for the latter.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/North_American_Chapter_of_the_Association_for_Computational_Linguistics/DLxxHe20">North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics</a> (NAACL) also identified a discrepancy between male and female voices. According to their research, Google's <a href="/facts/Speech_recognition/z7S7Pgk6">speech recognition</a> software is 13 percent more accurate for men than women. It performs better than the systems used by <a href="/facts/Bing_(search_engine)/r2pIK5HT">Bing</a>, <a href="/facts/AT%26T/y3Lo9uhk">AT&T</a>, and IBM.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="privacy-concerns">Privacy concerns</h2> <p>The built-in microphone in smart speakers is continuously listening for "hot words" followed by a command. However, these continuously listening microphones also raise privacy concerns among users.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> These include what is being recorded, how the data will be used, how it will be protected, and whether it will be used for invasive advertising.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Furthermore, an analysis of Amazon <a href="/facts/Amazon_Echo/nlMP4CPF">Echo Dots</a> showed that 30–38% of "spurious audio recordings were human conversations", suggesting that these devices capture audio other than strictly detection of the hot word.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h3>As a wiretap</h3> <p>There are strong concerns that the ever-listening microphone of smart speakers presents a perfect candidate for <a href="/facts/Telephone_tapping/9A549jmn">wiretapping</a>. In 2017, British security researcher Mark Barnes showed that pre-2017 Echos have exposed pins which allow for a compromised OS to be booted.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>According to Umar Iqbal, an Assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis, research indicates that data from consumer interactions with Alexa was used to targeted advertisements and products to consumer with over 40% of transmitted data lacking proper encryption raising privacy concerns. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> Furthermore data indicates that due to the Smart Speakers ability to always capture audio, it begins to pick up on external conversations from consumers not related to commands given to the smart speaker. Things such as other members in the household, consumers on the phone and even Tv audio can be picked up by these speakers and stored for future use by companies. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h3>Voice assistance vs privacy</h3> <p>While <a href="/facts/Virtual_assistant/BuouwL2U">voice assistants</a> provide a valuable service, there can be some hesitation towards using them in various social contexts, such as in public or around other users.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> However, only more recently have users begun interacting with voice assistants through an interaction with smart speakers rather than an interaction with the phone. On the phone, most voice assistants have the option to be engaged by a physical button (e.g., Siri with a long press of the home button) rather than solely by hot word-based engagement in a smart speaker. While this distinction increases the privacy by limiting when the microphone is on, users felt that having to press a button first removed the convenience of voice interaction.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> This trade-off is not unique to voice assistants; as more and more devices come online, there is an increasing trade-off between convenience and privacy.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h3>Factors influencing adoption</h3> <p>While there are many factors influencing smart speaker adoption, specifically with regards to privacy, Lau et al. define five distinct categories as pros and cons: convenience, identity as an early adopter, contributing factors, perceived lack of utility, privacy, and security concerns.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p><p>Smart speakers also benefit from their instant integration into the life of the consumer. Some capabilities of smart speakers are but not limited to setting alarms, sending voice messages to other smart devices in the home, the ability to send messages for you, instant answers to basic questions for any subject such as mathematics, geography, history, science and literature, and the ability to create task lists that can pair with your phone to remind you later on. Although these tasks can be completed by a phone, consumers tend to lean towards smart speakers due to factors such as their range being much greater than that of a phone and the need to not have to physically interact with the speaker to get the voice assistant as with most smartphones, certain parts of the phone must be interacted with to activate the speaking assistant. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p><p>Another reason for the adoption of smart speakers has been the use of smart speakers to help assist those with disabilities. While most technology is limited by it needs for the user to be able to physically interact with the device, smart speakers are not bound by these limitations and can serve as an excellent tool for those who are unable to use their arms or legs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="security-concerns">Security concerns</h2> <p>When configured without <a href="/facts/Authentication/64y4S69b">authentication</a>, smart speakers can be activated by people other than the intended user or owner. For example, visitors to a home or office, or people in a publicly accessible area outside an open window, partial wall, or security fence, may be able to be heard by a speaker. One team demonstrated the ability to stimulate the microphones of smart speakers and smartphones through a closed window, from another building across the street, using a laser.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="usage-statistics">Usage statistics</h2> <p>As of summer 2022, it is estimated by <a href="/facts/NPR/BohIW9Xg">NPR</a> and Edison Research that 91 million Americans (35% of the population over 18) own a smart speaker.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2> Smart Speakers <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Smart_home_hub/g7XD6fmE">Smart home hub</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Thread_(network_protocol)/35JThgg4">Thread (network protocol)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Matter_(standard)/ENQfE9b8">Matter</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>smart speaker Archived 2019-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, techtarget.com, May 2017 <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/smart-speaker" target="_blank">http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/smart-speaker</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Brown, Rich. "Echo Show, Nest Hub, Facebook Portal and more: How to pick the best smart display in 2019". CNET. Archived from the original on 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2019-06-19. <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/echo-show-nest-hub-facebook-portal-and-more-how-to-pick-the-best-smart-display-in-2019/" target="_blank">https://www.cnet.com/news/echo-show-nest-hub-facebook-portal-and-more-how-to-pick-the-best-smart-display-in-2019/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Faulkner, Cameron (9 October 2018). "How Google's new Home Hub compares to the Echo Show and Facebook Portal". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-06-19. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/9/17956898/google-home-hub-vs-amazon-echo-show-facebook-portal-price-smart-speaker-display" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/9/17956898/google-home-hub-vs-amazon-echo-show-facebook-portal-price-smart-speaker-display</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Metz, Cade (2020-03-23). "There Is a Racial Divide in Speech-Recognition Systems, Researchers Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2020-04-22. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/technology/speech-recognition-bias-apple-amazon-google.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/technology/speech-recognition-bias-apple-amazon-google.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Bajorek, Joan Palmiter (2019-05-10). "Voice Recognition Still Has Significant Race and Gender Biases". Harvard Business Review. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24. <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/05/voice-recognition-still-has-significant-race-and-gender-biases" target="_blank">https://hbr.org/2019/05/voice-recognition-still-has-significant-race-and-gender-biases</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Lau, Josephine; Zimmerman, Benjamin; Schaub, Florian (1 November 2018). "Alexa, Are You Listening?: Privacy Perceptions, Concerns and Privacy-seeking Behaviors with Smart Speakers". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 2 (CSCW): 102:1–102:31. doi:10.1145/3274371. S2CID 53223356. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Amazon hands over Echo 'murder' data". BBC News. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2019. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39191056" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39191056</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Amazon patents 'voice-sniffing' algorithms". BBC News. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43725708" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43725708</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Ford, Marcia, and William Palmer. "Alexa, are you listening to me? An analysis of Alexa voice service network traffic." Personal and Ubiquitous Computing (2018): 1-13. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Greenberg, Andy (1 August 2017). "A Hacker Turned an Amazon Echo Into a 'Wiretap'". Wired. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019 – via www.wired.com. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-wiretap-hack/" target="_blank">https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-wiretap-hack/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Iqbal, Umar (2024-12-03). "Tracking, Profiling, and Ad Targeting in the Alexa Echo Smart Speaker Ecosystem" (PDF). umariqbal.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-12-03. <a href="https://umariqbal.com/papers/alexa-echos-imc2023.pdf" target="_blank">https://umariqbal.com/papers/alexa-echos-imc2023.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Malkin, Nathan (2019). "Privacy Attitudes of Smart Speaker Users" (PDF). Sciendo. Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies. <a href="https://petsymposium.org/popets/2019/popets-2019-0068.pdf" target="_blank">https://petsymposium.org/popets/2019/popets-2019-0068.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Sarah Mennicken and Elaine M. Huang. 2012. Hacking the Natural Habitat: An In-the-Wild Study of Smart Homes, Their Development, and the People Who Live in Them. In Pervasive Computing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 143–160". doi:10.1007/978-3-642-31205-2_10. S2CID 3480089. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2019-02-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31205-2_10" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31205-2_10</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Christoffer Lambertsson. 2017. Expectations of Privacy in Voice Interaction–A Look at Voice Controlled Bank Transactions. Ph.D. Dissertation. KTH Royal Institute of Technology <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Rao, Sonia (12 September 2018) "In today's homes, consumers are willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience". Retrieved 25 February 2019". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-todays-homes-consumers-are-willing-to-sacrifice-privacy-for-convenience/2018/09/11/5f951b4a-a241-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a_story.html" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-todays-homes-consumers-are-willing-to-sacrifice-privacy-for-convenience/2018/09/11/5f951b4a-a241-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a_story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Lau, Josephine; Zimmerman, Benjamin; Schaub, Florian (1 November 2018). "Alexa, Are You Listening?: Privacy Perceptions, Concerns and Privacy-seeking Behaviors with Smart Speakers". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 2 (CSCW): 102:1–102:31. doi:10.1145/3274371. S2CID 53223356. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Kowalczuk, Pascal (2018-10-10). "Consumer acceptance of smart speakers: a mixed methods approach". Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. 12 (4): 418–431. doi:10.1108/jrim-01-2018-0022. <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jrim-01-2018-0022/full/pdf?title=consumer-acceptance-of-smart-speakers-a-mixed-methods-approach" target="_blank">https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jrim-01-2018-0022/full/pdf?title=consumer-acceptance-of-smart-speakers-a-mixed-methods-approach</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Mauldin, Laura (2022-09-10). "Cripping in America: Hacking an ableist world". The Baffler (64): 22–29. JSTOR 27159392. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27159392" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/27159392</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>"Lasers can silently issue 'voice commands' to your smart speakers". 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2019-11-06. <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/05/lasers-voice-commands-smart-speaker/" target="_blank">https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/05/lasers-voice-commands-smart-speaker/</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Landis, Devon (2022-06-12). "NPR & Edison Research: Smart Speaker Ownership Reaches 35% of Americans". NPR. Archived from the original on 2024-12-02. Retrieved 2024-12-02. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1105579648/npr-edison-research-smart-speaker-ownership-reaches-35-of-americans#:~:text=June%2016%2C%202022%3B%20Somerville%2C,now%20owning%20a%20smart%20speaker." target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1105579648/npr-edison-research-smart-speaker-ownership-reaches-35-of-americans#:~:text=June%2016%2C%202022%3B%20Somerville%2C,now%20owning%20a%20smart%20speaker.</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>