Alexa, Are You Spying On Me?

The answer is yes. All our smart devices – from mobile phones to laptops and smart speakers – are capable of snooping. Here, Fiona Cowood explores the risks

- Fiona Cowood

For an indicator of what unnerving tech developments lurk around the corner, check out Facebook’s list of patents pending. In June this year, many were shocked to learn that the company had applied for a patent to be able to spy on your expressions and your emotions using the camera on your phone or tablet. Why? So that it can serve up more of what you like, less of what you don’t, and handily keep you online for longer. While Facebook said that the technology may never come to fruition, it further planted the idea that technology is edging closer to knowing us better than we know ourselves.

Indeed, the device we carry around, perma-glued to our palms, is everything but a phone. Mine is an alarm clock, the reason I’m yet to write a bestseller, and a portable home for the hundreds of friends who live, noisily, in my pocket thanks to Facebook and Instagram.

Because of what I actively share, those apps know the names of my kids and my political preferences. But as our data becomes ever-more valuable and the way we use tech is changing, are we under threat from cyber snoopers?

Hacking topped the news agenda this year, but the rise of voice-activated smart speakers – such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home and Apple’s HomePod (launching in December) – is making people further question their safety, as we move away from Smart Phones to Smart Homes. Now, all the latest high-spec kettles, TVs and fridges want to sync with their owners.