Alexa can affect home insurance!

eddddy

This is really annoying.

Up until now, I've relied on looking for houses with no cars on the drive, and knocking on the door to see if nobody answers.

Now I've got to find a 6 year old to hack Amazon's security, somehow match individual Amazon dots to individual houses in my town, and analyse thousands of hours of speech or hack into 3rd party apps to find out if people are likely to be in.

DCFC79

Well I'm safe since my Alexa isn't even switched on nor is it connected as part of a smart home. so anyone will be lucky to get anything out of mine.

boliston

there are plenty of internet connected devices with a built in microphone already in peoples homes and have been for years - why is alexa any different?

capital0ne

DCFC79 wrote: »

Well I'm safe since my Alexa isn't even switched on nor is it connected as part of a smart home. so anyone will be lucky to get anything out of mine.

If its not switched on and not connected whats the point in having one?

capital0ne

boliston wrote: »

there are plenty of internet connected devices with a built in microphone already in peoples homes and have been for years - why is alexa any different?

Because Alexa has now become so popular and so interactive it WILL be hacked.
Micro$oft gets more hacks and and fixes because it is so widely use, whereas you never hear of problems with other OS's m- the same will be trues of Alexa and not your coffee percolator conected to the internet.

When you give Amazon access to your smart front door lock so your order of pretzels can be dumped in your fron porch, it wont be long before criminals will helpthem selves to the entire contenst of your house.
Insurance companies are going to be way behind the curve this technology so nothing will happen till the claims start rolling in.
Don't believe me, Facebook is but one minor incident.
You've been warned....

ValiantSon

capital0ne wrote: »

I'm stunned by the ignorance of the average person,

Not ignorance. You started a thread with this title:

capital0ne wrote: »

Alexa can affect home insurance!

You then went on to say,

capital0ne wrote: »

Alexa can affect home insurance!

It' not happened yet but if you have an Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri device in your home, it will one day affect your insurance.

So in your first sentence you admitted that there was no issue. The rest of your post is speculative and conspiracy theory-esque.

capital0ne wrote: »

this is very real threat, so best of luck once you've fully automated your home and made it just one IOT object - it won't take long for insurance companies to latch on to this and your insurance will skyrocket.

Maybe not wasting my money on Alexa or Apple products means that I am less bothered by this scare story than you. Nonetheless, I shall run with your thesis for a moment.... Nope, still not worried. Most burglaries are opportunistic and most burglars not particularly sophisticated criminals. I very much doubt that the scenario you envision will amount to much because there are much better ways for hackers to steal than having to physically gain entry to a property.

AylesburyDuck

Alexa, being as rubbish as she is, hardly ever listens to a thing "i say", let alone whatever "everyone" in the house is saying, deaf cow;.:rotfl::rotfl:
Tell you, when ever she shuffles off this moral coil i am getting google home.

silvercar

The new hive can detect the sound of glass breaking, alarms ringing and dogs barking. It then alerts the owner. Will that reduce home insurance?

Thought not.

vacheron

silvercar wrote: »

The new hive can detect the sound of glass breaking, alarms ringing and dogs barking. It then alerts the owner. Will that reduce home insurance?

Thought not.

Yes, I've just bought a bunch of Hive kit for the new extension. For "just another £19" they would upgrade me to the new smart hub which is clearly constantly listening and analysing every sound it hears.

No thanks Hive. Just flick the bloody heating switch on and off like you're supposed to and mind your own damn business! :rotfl:

AstroTurtle

If someone is that hellbent on robbing your house Do they!


Option A - they will hack into your house via WiFi download your Alexa records (Which will be held on a server linked to Amazon if Amazon is recording) then decrypt the data, pin point when your leaving your house, then hook themselves up to the Matrix and battle with the matrix version of yourself. Once they have beaten the robot army they will unhook you from the matrix to battle you in real life only then can they claim to be the true one. Following this they will take on the mega boss Jeff Bezos himself once this final boss is defeated they may proceed to steal your G-Tech hoover.

OR

Option B - Watch you leave the house and kick the back door in?