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Amazon echo at the middle of murder investigation in Bentonville
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:25 pm
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:25 pm
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seems people are unsure if Amazon is always listening or only listens when you say 'Alexa'
if it and other devices are always listening, it could be a game changer in solving crimes
quote:
Internet-connected devices may start helping in criminal cases. As first reported in The Information, police in Bentonville, Arkansas have issued a warrant to Amazon, asking the company to hand over data from an Echo device to help prosecute a suspected murderer.
James Andrew Bates, the suspect in the case, was charged with first-degree murder in November of 2015 after authorities found victim Victor Collins strangled and drowned in Mr. Bates’ hot tub.
quote:
Bates has several internet-connected devices in his home, including a Nest thermostat and a Honeywell alarm system, but the key witness in the case may be his Amazon Echo, which, as per The Information, police records say could have controlled the streaming music, which was being wirelessly transmitted throughout the night using Echo’s assistant Alexa.
However, it’s unclear how much data police could extract from the device or how useful that data would be in the case. Alexa is always listening through a system of seven built-in microphones but waits for you to say the “wake word” to send it commands, like asking for the weather or which music to play, according to the company. The device also streams your audio to the cloud, including a fraction of a second of audio before the wake word.
Amazon has so far declined to hand over information in the case, according to court records, and the company says it will not be releasing customer information “without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.”
quote:
But the broader takeaway in this instance is just how much these IoT devices could be used for or against us, legally. This appears to be a first-of-its-kind case and we are sure to see many more of these types of inquiries in the future.
seems people are unsure if Amazon is always listening or only listens when you say 'Alexa'
if it and other devices are always listening, it could be a game changer in solving crimes
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:33 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
seems people are unsure if Amazon is always listening or only listens when you say 'Alexa' if it and other devices are always listening, it could be a game changer in solving crimes
This is crazy, we just had this discussion about her listening on Christmas eve. I have one and hmm, I guess about 5 other family members do too. We better behave.
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:46 pm to hawgfaninc
So my brother just gave me one of these for Christmas. Are you saying that I shouldn't turn it on?
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:56 pm to TheCheshireHog
Just don't kill anybody.
Posted on 12/28/16 at 1:57 pm to HogX
I've had one since last Christmas and haven't been arrested for anything yet.
Posted on 12/28/16 at 2:54 pm to hawgfaninc
I have an Echo, and sometimes it gets accidentally activated because I say, or one of my guests says, something that's similar enough to the wake word. I can actually open my app and see a record of the questions I or my guests have asked, so that's probably what the investigators are looking at. (I've actually "caught" guests playing around with my Echo while I was in the shower, for instance--just asking random questions to see how it would respond)
Alternatively, they could be looking at it to establish a timeline and potentially to place the suspect in the home at the time of the murder. You have to pair your phone to the device using Bluetooth, and the setup for that requires you to log into your account(s) (plural because you can play music from Spotify, Pandora, etc). That means that random people can't come in and pair to your Echo (IIRC). If the Echo was being used around the time of death, that would narrow the potential suspects.
Alternatively, they could be looking at it to establish a timeline and potentially to place the suspect in the home at the time of the murder. You have to pair your phone to the device using Bluetooth, and the setup for that requires you to log into your account(s) (plural because you can play music from Spotify, Pandora, etc). That means that random people can't come in and pair to your Echo (IIRC). If the Echo was being used around the time of death, that would narrow the potential suspects.
This post was edited on 12/28/16 at 2:57 pm
Posted on 12/28/16 at 3:44 pm to Hog on the Hill
That guy graduated with my brother.
One of my brothers friends was over there the night it happened. Though he left before the "incident" occurred.
Crazy story.
One of my brothers friends was over there the night it happened. Though he left before the "incident" occurred.
Crazy story.
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