Novak points out that the Echo’s microphone is perpetually on and can be access with “a little hacking.”
“In many ways the Echo is a law enforcement dream,” he writes. “Years ago agencies like the FBI would need to wiretap a phone conversation or place bugs inside homes, practices that can be cost prohibitive and labor intensive. Today, you just need some software to tap into a device’s microphone.”
To find out if the FBI was doing as he suspected they might, he filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act. The response was vague at best and nefarious at worst.
Citing that such disclosure would “disclose techniques, procedures, and/or guidelines” regarding FBI procedure, the agency refused the request.
Doing anything you don’t want the FBI or maybe even the world to know about? It’s probably a good idea not to talk about it around the Echo. Or else, Novak points out, you’re basically just offering unfettered information.
“Alexa, tell the Feds where the bodies are buried,” he concluded.
