People use a lot of services and devices to transmit and retain sensitive personal information. A person could use daily: a work computer, a personal computer, multiple email addresses, a work cellphone, a personal cellphone, an e-reader or tablet, a fitness tracker or smart watch, and an Artificial Intelligence assistant (Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, or Microsoft’s Cortana). The data retained or transmitted on these services and devices could include sensitive medical or other information, personal photos, financial data, and more.
There’s also the issue of the collection of information that could lead to other data being learned. For example, I wrote recently about health-app data and the surprising results of scrutinizing it. A man was alarmed by his wife’s heart rate data, as collected by her Fitbit, and asked others for assistance analyzing it. One theory: She could be pregnant. Did you know that heart-rate changes could signal a pregnancy?
Currently, there’s ongoing controversy concerning the data possibly collected by an Amazon Echo. The Washington Post explains, “The Echo is equipped with seven microphones and responds to a ‘wake word,’ most commonly ‘Alexa.’ When it detects the wake word, it begins streaming audio to the cloud, including a fraction of a second of audio before the wake word, according to the Amazon website. A recording and transcription of the audio is logged and stored in the Amazon Alexa app and must be manually deleted later.” Arkansas police have served a warrant to Amazon, as they seek information recorded by a suspect’s Echo. Amazon has refused to comply with the warrant. Read more »