JohnnyEnzyme comments on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening

Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening (techcrunch.com)

submitted 1 month ago* by rimu@piefed.social [M] to c/technology@piefed.social

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With its new watches’ “Audio Intelligence,” “Live Rewind,” and “Siri Recap” features, the company is straddling the line between accessibility and utility on one side and what starts to feel like invasive technology on the other.

“Siri Recap,” uses ambient listening to “take high-level notes” of your conversations, which can be reviewed in the Siri iOS app. These notes will automatically generate a title, summary, and key points based on what was recorded and summarized by AI.

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 9 points 1 month ago (21 children)

If I understand correctly, some (or most?) TV remotes now have mics built in. The stated aim is allegedly so that the user can quickly search something up without tediously typing, but the surveillance opportunity seems pretty glaring. A smaller extension of Smart TV's, I guess.

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago (18 children)

Yup, and that’s why many of us don’t hook our TVs up to the internet

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago (15 children)

I haven't had a TV in years, so I'm kinda hazy on what the main concern of Smart TV's would be. Are they recording you via camera and speaker, is that it? If so, is there a way to block that?

If it's moreso that they're gathering your watching habits, it's hard for me to see that as alarming. Er, I think.

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago (14 children)

Microphones are their typical method of choice. Typically embedded in the remote (which can be replaced or removed), but they’ve also found hidden microphones inside the TVs from certain companies (I think Samsung got caught doing that one?)

It’s also not uncommon for a TV to secretly take screenshots of whatever is on your TV (computer, PS5, home movies, you name it) every 30 seconds or so, and then transmit the screenshots back to HQ (mostly to be sold to data brokers).

I haven’t heard of one with actual cameras in it (yet).

So yeah, if you get a TV, do NOT connect that shit to the Internet, do NOT accept the user agreement, and don’t trust these MFs.

All media enters my TV through my (secure) Linux computer, or my Sega

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago (13 children)

Thanks for the extensive comment. I guess theoretically if I was going to get a Smart TV, I'd first look in to whatever surveillance it contained, and what my options were to disable such.

Methinks it would be a shame to lose out on internet connectivity.

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago* (11 children)

That’s the cool part, you don’t have to lose out on internet connectivity, you just want to control the transmissions that are going out.

I have my computer plugged into the TV, that’s how I do the small amount of streaming I do, watch my files, play most of my video games, etc. I just use the inputs like an old school TV, which means no waiting for apps to load, or any of that shit.

VCR
Sega
Computer
PS5

That’s my setup, and just about everything I need

It has all the benefits of a TV that is connected to the internet, and then some (my computer loads things much quicker than the TV itself could, for example), and it has none of the drawbacks because I fully control the OS and the browser, and everything else… and my mouse works better than my TV remotes ever did, lol.

If you use a Windows computer you’re still getting spied on tho. You could take preventative measures to stop that, but it’s easier to just switch to Linux. It’s not too difficult to learn, and you’ll appreciate the logical construction of the system.

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 0 points 1 month ago (10 children)

I actually did get a new Win11 mini-PC last year to beat the Win10 deadline, and intended to get Linux set up as a dual-boot, but still haven't gotten around to it yet.

The last time I tried to install Linux (loong time ago now) there were driver issues. I guess I'm scared that I'll screw something up, and my backup PC is old and uncertain at this point.

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[–] GMac@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago (6 children)

I had the same experience long time ago: attempted to install, failed in figuring out how to mount a hard dive and gave up. Last year i tried linux mint, loved it. Easy transition, minimal learning curve.

Ive also found that if i had issues with windows the error messages were crap ans the web was filled with garbage advice. On linux, i find whenever i want to do something the support is better, advice is clearer and when you need it there is much more clarity on what is working or not working.

Grab yourself a usb stick, get your linux distribution of choice on it. Most distributions allow you to boot your machine from the stick to try out linux with zero impact on your existing machine. You can check ifndisplay, sound etc works and if you like the feel of it. If you do, install is a few clicks away using the same stick.

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 0 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Ah, nice idea! I do have a 128gb stick laying around that I haven't used yet.

So, you're happy with "Mint"?

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[–] GMac@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Very happy with it. To the extent that although part of me is interested in experimenting with other distributions, mint just works and everything is in the places i naturally look so motivation is lacking.

My desktop machine is dual boot: Mint and Win11 (windows rarely used but there if i need it), while my laptop, and the one i got my son for his studies both run Mint exclusively. It does a fantastic job on those lenovo machines.

Also had mint running an HTPC, but have since repurposed that machine as a server and used Ubuntu server os for that. Would not have felt like i could do that without using linux mint.

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Mint - Cinnamon sounds promising from what I gather, so I'll see if I can get that working on the stick. If you feel like linking me to some starter site, feel free, otherwise I'll just search something up...

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[–] GMac@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

Everything you need should be here: https://www.linuxmint.com/ You might also take a look here: https://linuxvox.com/blog/linux-mint-setup/

Since you mention cinnamon, worth noting that Linux can (but you dont have to) separately choose the underlying operating system and the desktop environment.
Cinnamon is the desktop environment that is default with Linux Mint so thats what you'd be exoected to boot into by default.

Also bundled is a software manager - think of it like an appstore without bullshirt. 😉

You can also get software from the web, just sarch up the developer as you would have for windows. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, so if you're presented with different versions of linux software, get for the ubuntu/debian option if mint isnt listed explicitly.

You might also see a choice between AMD x64 vs ARM. If you're running a typical pc and not a tablet, its AMD x64. It refers to the cpu architecture so you sill want that even if you have an intel cpu (that one confused me till someone kindly explained that).

Feel fee to message me if confused by something. Not an expert but will try to help.

Hope you like it and can free yourself from microslop (or a least loosen the shackles a bit)

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago

All power to the User

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago

Mint is also the one I use (Mint MATE specifically), and it rules. The learning curve is very manageable.

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What I would recommend is either getting a new hard drive and swapping it with your current drive, or creating a back up disk image of your current computer on an external drive. That way your old computer is safe if you mess anything up. (You probably won’t need it tho, it’s not as hard/scary as it initially seems).

Linux has very recently become much easier to use. The current version of WINE (a program which allows you to install and run Windows programs on a Linux PC) is incredible, so you really shouldn’t lose anything capability-wise in the switch either.

If you just add a Windows partition on your current disk, Windows 11 will randomly delete the entire Linux partition (I’ve read about this happening to multiple people). So you’d want a clean installation of Linux to avoid Microslop’s spyware and malware.

I still have the old hard drive with my Windows 11 system on it, but I never needed to use it, and I’ve been switched for long enough that I would not use it now… I should wipe that drive and put it in an enclosure to be an external

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 0 points 1 month ago (1 child)

Thanks for all the suggestions and info. One thing to consider is that I'm physically disabled, and fooling around with swapping drives and whatnot is not something I really want to mess around with at this stage. (and yes, I used to be a tech, haha)

You're not a fan of the stick idea, I take it? It seems like it would be a good, low-energy way for me to give Mint a test drive...

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago

Oh, the stick is how I did it. It’s definitely great for the Test drive.

In my specific situation, I had A lot of files I wanted to move from the window system to the Linux system, and at that point in time, I did not have an external that had enough room to put them all on. I was also unsure if everything I needed would be compatible, so I wanted to save the windows SSD to be able to use as an external and boot from if needed. That did not end up being necessary, but I did plug it in as an external in order to recover some of those files that I wasn’t able to move to an existing external (mostly my ROM library and all my saves tbh, lmao)

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[–] CTDummy@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

Make sure you don’t get LG or any of their products in that case. Gamers Nexus did a video about their extensive spying on paying customers.

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[–] gedfromgont@piefed.ca 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

"Many of us" is likely still the minority of all Smart TV buyers though. This shit is already normalized without anyone having realized it until now.

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[–] h0tbeef@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago*

That’s why it’s important to educate people, it doesn’t have to remain normalized, once they know they usually understand how fucked up it is.

Each one teach one

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[–] Ghoelian@piefed.social 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

I doubt those things are phoning home at all. Constantly or regularly recording and sending the audio to a chromecast or whatever would drain the batteries pretty quick.

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[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

Constantly, yeah. But the idea that the potential is there and can theoretically be used against you at any time without you being able to stop it is the concern. What if there's a backdoor, for example?

I'm not particularly paranoid, but to have an increasing number of devices & gadgets with this potential is naturally going to make a lot of people uncomfortable.

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