re: Do I have our evasdropping corporate overlord's names correct?

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When and how are these frickers listening?

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The device always listening and the cloud it's connected to always listening have to be 2 separate things. Even on a home network where data usage isn't a concern, they have to have a list of code words they trigger, otherwise the mountain of data is too big and full of noise. Also, I think it's important to know their motivations.

Amazon want's to sell you stuff, so they probably are/will be listening for brands and products.

Google wants to sell you to advertisers, so they care about a lot more like what you're watching, who you talk to etc.

I'm not sure Apple and Microsoft know what they want out of you. Their primary business is selling an ecosystem that knowing more about you doesn't help other than providing a good experience. For example, in the newest version of iOS that dropped a few months ago, they have a "Siri Suggestions" screen that lists contacts and apps. Most of the time it lists recently used apps, but there are occasions where a combination of time and location (even within my house) seemed to change what apps are suggested. It was actually pretty cool that my Sleep Sound app was suggested when I went near the bed around bed time to charge my phone. I wasn't going to sleep yet, but nice try Siri.


Amazon and Google probably have the most desire for personal knowledge about us, but they also have the most motivation to hoard and protect that information. So while they might end up being the most creepy, they probably are the ones worth trusting the most with that information. The real threat to our privacy isn't the company we know is listening to us, it's hackers and governments finding a way to access that data.