Computer Shopper - UK (2019-10)

ISSUE 380|COMPUTERSHOPPER|OCTOBER 2019 103103

the Access with VoiceMatch option to stop
Google from listening into your information.

Deletingrecordings
As we explained in ‘The UltimateGuide to
Amazon Alexa’(Shopper378), Alexa records
everything you’veeversaid to it. To see what
has been recorded, open the Alexa app and
go to Settings, Alexa Account, Alexa Privacy.
Tapthe ReviewVoiceHistory option and
you’ll see alist of phrases that Alexa has
heardtoday.You canselect individual
ones and delete them or use the option to

delete all recorded

conversations for

today.Ifyou want to

delete using avoice

command, youcan

toggle the Enable

deletion by voice

switch. Youcan

then say to any

Echo speaker,‘Alexa,

delete what Ijust

said’ or ‘Alexa,

delete everything I

said today’.

Using the drop-

down menu, youcan

viewrecordings fordifferentperiods,

including Yesterday,This Week, This

Monthand All History.For each option,

youcan delete individual recordings or

delete everything.

From the Alexa Privacymenu, youcan

also delete (but notsee)information on how

you’veused Alexa to controlyour smart

devices. To preventAlexa recording

information in future, select the Manage

HowYour Data ImprovesAlexa option. You

canthen turn offthe options to Help

Develop NewFeatures (Amazon warns that

newfeatures may notwork well if youdo

this, although we can’tsee how),and you

canturn offUse Messages to Improve

Transcriptions to stop anymessages you

send using Alexa from being read.

If you’reusing the Google Assistant, go to

myaccount.google.com,select Data &

personalization and clickManageyouractivity

controls under Activity controls. Youcan turn

offVoice&Audio Activity using the switch,

which will preventGoogle recording your

voice. Google warns that your devicemay

notunderstand when yousay ‘Hey Google’,

but click Pause to continue turning offthe

setting. To see what Google has recorded

about you, click Manage Activity.You can

delete anyentry,but youcan also click the

Play button to hear your original recording.

There’s no option to listen to recordings

made by Siri, although youcan download a

copy of all the datathat Apple stores about

youbyvisiting the Apple Data and privacy

website(privacy.apple.com).

WHATABOUTSMARTCAMERAS?

Our homes are getting smarter, but with thatcomes an

additional securitythreat. It was reported recently

thatRing, an Amazon company, was letting

employees viewfootage from video streams,

including from insidepeople’s homes, under

the guise of advancing computer recognition.

However, Ring has said thatithas never

done this, and thatitonlyever looked at

publiclyshared videos via its Neighbors app,

which is currentlyonlyavailable in the US.

Nest has also come under fire recently

forabug in its cameras thatallowed

previous owners to continue viewing a

feed even after deregistering the

camera from their account. The bug

was linked to the wayinwhich the

camera feed was shared with the Wink

smarthome hub, which maintained the

connection even after acamera was

removed from the Nest app. Google (Nest’s

owner) has sincesaid thatithas fixed the bug

and thatnoother action needs to be taken.

That’s all well and good, but both issues

highlight the potential problemofhaving smartcameras,

particularlythose thatupload live video footage to the cloud.

Sowhatcan you do to protect against such threats?

First, be verycareful when buying second-hand items,

making sure thatany smartdevicehas been properly

factory-reset. As we sawfrom Nest, even this wasn’t

enoughunder certain circumstances, so buy new

products if you can to ensure thattheyhaven’t

been tampered with.

If you don’t wanttouse cloud storage, look

foraproduct with an SD card or one thatcan

record locallytoaNAS device. This prevents

anyfootage from leaving your home.

Consider whether you’re better served

by external cameras rather than internal

cameras. External cameras will capture

less sensitive information than internal

ones, giving you agreater deal of privacy,

while still protecting your home.

Finally, and most importantly, be careful

where you position your cameras. Where you

can, limit internal cameras to hallways where they

won’t capture day-to-daylife, but will still pick up

an intruder. And always use the camera’s built-in

tools to enable and disable recordings when you

want. Settings differ from manufacturer to

manufacturer, but the two most common ones are schedules to

turn the camera on and off at settimes, and geofencing, which

turns acamera on when you go out and off when you come home.

ABOUTSMARTCAMERAS?

smarter, but with thatcomes an

hreat. It was reported recently

company, was letting

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ras thatallowed

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ount. The bug

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aredwith the Wink

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est app. Google (Nest’s

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cancancancan,limitinternal cameras to

won’t capture day-to-dayli

an intruder. And always use

tools to enable and disable

ABOVE:Google canalso be told to stop making voicerecordings

ABOVE:Yo ucan tell Alexa to delete anyrecordings

ABOVE:Smart cameras canbea

threat to your privacyifthey’renot

configured properly