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Any device that needs to be off because it can't be trusted with your conversations should not exist in the first place.
Idk if I'd trust a healthcare facility that uses an Echo freely and also refers to it as "muted" 
'Alexa: what is the organ called that looks like a bean with a piece of rope coming from it?'
'Alexa: what is a proper way to stop a profusely bleeding blood vessel?'
'Alexa: what would be the cause of death if a patient died after loosing a high amount of blood?'
@lightspeed @hiramfromthechi @sorinorii 5 seconds before the first query:
@screambiogenesis @hiramfromthechi @sorinorii
Garry Larson was so good in creating such cartoons.
@screambiogenesis @lightspeed @hiramfromthechi @sorinorii Has become the 'Not So Far Side'
@screambiogenesis @lightspeed @sorinorii key word: "probably" 
@lightspeed @sorinorii I know this is a joke, but the fact that this very well could be happening deeply concerns me 
@hiramfromthechi @sorinorii Healthcare people aren't tech experts. They shouldn't be expected to know that muting would not work. You can trust them for what they are trained in. Sneaky software is not covered in their training.
@ang6666
I would hope that the people in charge of my health care know that "muted" and "deafened" are two different concepts.
Its not a tech issue, its a language issue.
@ang6666 @sorinorii honestly a fair point. At the end of the day, this comes down to a legislative failure.
Because you know what, it shouldn't need to be the case that our human rights and liberties (e.g., privacy) are violated by default.
Consumers shouldn't need to go to extreme lengths and sacrifice convenience to have that protected.
You shouldn't need to know to use Firefox + uBlock Origin and decline all cookies and block telemetry, and use a VPN, etc. etc. just to function in society.
@hiramfromthechi Any company that produces a device that needs to be off because this company can't be trusted with your conversations should not exist in the first place.
#digital #privacy
@darkandandstormy fixed it for me. Thanks. 
@hiramfromthechi
Where muted means immersed in a bucket of water.
@zl2tod and launched into eternal space
@hiramfromthechi that is literally every cell phone at the least but no one seems to care. Google makes quite the living off of such things.
@D1g1talDrag0n the game is: make it an integral part of enough people's lives to where people will willingly give up their—and by default, everyone else's—fundamental human rights.
@hiramfromthechi definitely shouldn't exist in the workplace at the very least.
@conmy broadly speaking, "workplace" is one thing. A healthcare facility with highly sensitive information? That's another level.
@hiramfromthechi what is Amazon Echo? 
@hunterlan a privacy-invading surveillance device
@hiramfromthechi Wow, thanks for sharing this. Do you have more details on the context of this photo, where it came from, etc?
@nacly I don't, perhaps someone else here will
@nacly perhaps related: https://techhub.social/@groink/111256163122811061
Oh, come on. Next, you're gonna say that we shouldn't have one in the Pentagon or something, aren't you?
@Hafa_Airhead I really hope you're trolling
@hiramfromthechi trolling? back when I was stationed at Ft Meade, we had these things in every office.
It was so convenient to have an electronic assistant there to answer our questions. Especially when it came to the random tidbits we would hear about Russia.
(Ok, honestly, I'm joking).
@Hafa_Airhead ahaha I just had to make sure
@hiramfromthechi "Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move."
@LizardSF lip to word transcription using AI
@hiramfromthechi +9001%
This shitty #Govware is #Stasi-esque bs and a waste of electricity, spectrum, bandwith and money.
Also note that #AllGafamsAreEvil and #AllGafamsAreSnitches as we know from the #PRISM program...
@hiramfromthechi How does one mute an Echo? Wouldn't trust it as long as it's plugged in.
@mack505 @hiramfromthechi I remember there being a little mute button that just disables the assistant thru software.
@hiramfromthechi
Seems the laws only apply to serfs while corporations get to disregard them
@NMBA wouldn't be the first time, unfortunately..
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@hiramfromthechi@mastodon.social Damn why would someone install Amazon Echo in a room where patient info could be discussed by someone.
@hiramfromthechi @eyrea Video game consoles, your phone, your tv, your router, your smarthome, maybe your fridge, definitely your car
@hiramfromthechi @eyrea I spent a decade in online advertising. Everything I listed is a bigger privacy/security leak than an Amazon smart speaker. Trust me on this.
@hiramfromthechi especially in a healthcare setting!
@hiramfromthechi not exist in that space.
@hiramfromthechi I'm thinking of selling my Google hubs. Such a letdown
@jimmyjamm de-Google your life 
@hiramfromthechi
Ordered one when they first came out. Never took it out of the box. Sent it back.
@leemeade did yourself and everyone around you a huge favor
@hiramfromthechi
Yup. I don’t use voice control on my phone (Pixel) either.
@hiramfromthechi The phone you used to make this post, does the same thing. So should we be leaving our phones at home?
@themeccles not all surveillance is created equal.
@hiramfromthechi Not sure I agree. Phones can do a lot more than we give them credit for. I Googled something on my work laptop, and later in the day, I saw ads on FB on my phone for the very thing I had Goigled earlier that day, from my work laptop. I think in this case, it’s all created equal.
My phone has also picked up on my conversations even when I’m not using it. All of these tech gadgets are set up that way.
@hiramfromthechi
At least Amazon Echo has a button to disable the microphone (and it works, speaking as an engineer). The same cannot be said about the phone that took the photo! The patient's phone, the doctor's phone.
@hiramfromthechi Dang it - I was just about to put Siri in the SCIF 
@hiramfromthechi Ich hab mal mit nem älteren Ehepaar gesprochen, die skeptisch waren, weil Alexa ja Gespräche mithören kann. Deswegen haben sie das Gerät aus der Küche verbannt.
Ins Bad.
@hiramfromthechi from what I have observed they mainly use echo for the timer feature. “Alexa, let me know when it’s been 1 minute” or whatever. Which shows that there’s a niche market for voice activated timers.
@hiramfromthechi What does “muted” mean in this context? Shouldn't it be off entirely?
@anderspuck that's part of the issue here.. they're equating "muted" with "isn't listening," which isn't the same thing.
If something is muted, it means it's not producing volume. But just cause it's not producing volume doesn't mean it's not listening.
If it's "muted" in the sense that it can't hear you, there's still no way to confirm this is actually the case.
These devices are always "passively" listening anyways, which means they're listening for the "wake" word to "actively" listen. 
@hiramfromthechi And you trust the "mute button"?
@yacc143 I wouldn't, no.
@hiramfromthechi And WTF is it doing in a medical environment in the first place?