Alexa in Dashcams, Good idea or a Privacy Concern?

Since it's inception into a voice assistant for your home, the Alexa service has been plagued by privacy concerns. A few security researchers claim malicious apps can eavesdrop through your Echo device due to it's microphone being on all the time as the device awaits commands. Alexa users also found out fairly recently, the Alexa enabled Echo devices can store your audio recordings for Amazon employees to review without your authorisation. This can be rather embarrassing, especially if the device is kept in the bedroom. (oops) But to be fair to Amazon, they have made changes to enabled new commands so users can be informed of what audio has been stored. That being said, it is scary to think what kind of information big companies like Amazon have on us all.

Why do we use these devices? Is it being smarter or just being lazy?

As of January 2019, Amazon have sold over 100,000,000 Alexa enabled devices. We can agree that is an astonishing number of devices sold. That is 1.5 devices for every person in the UK or 11 devices per person in London. With the amount of devices sold, it is not out of this world to question how much information these devices record. It is easier to say "Alexa, switch the downstairs lights off" than to actually go downstairs and turn the lights off or "Alexa, set timer for 20 minutes" than to actually set an alarm on your mobile phone or clock. With the human population finding new ways of doing less, who knows what will be the new thing?

How do dashcams come into this?

Now, I bet you are wondering, "what has this got to do with dashcams?" Well, how many personal conversations do you have in your car with the passenger, the person on your handsfree kit or when you are just thinking out loud? Nextbase has released it's next generation dashcams with Alexa built in. Going by the privacy concerns already surrounding the Alexa service, is it a good idea to put a device like that in your vehicle? At Car Audio Centre, we all agree, we have had a few private conversations in the car! When driving, you seem to remember the stuff you should have done before leaving the house. "I'll chase EE for delivery of my new phone" "I'll speak to mum and ask what time she wants me to come over for dinner". All those little conversations, potentially being recorded and stored. It is a well established fact. Most dash cams have a microphone. But those recordings are normally stored locally, not uploaded to a cloud. (normally). They also can be wiped in a few seconds. Whereas the Alexa service would have stored it on their servers before you have had chance to realise what has happened. So, for now. Keep to locally stored memory dashcams! Like our Road Angel Halo dashcams If you're looking for a new dashcam, view our full range today.