By Sandy Wells
KABC News
Prosecutors in Arkansas have issued a warrant to obtain information from a man’s Amazon Echo, believing it may hold data that can help in a murder trial. The devices virtual assistant, known as “Alexa,” could hold recorded audio from the time of the murder as it “listened” to the room, waiting for commands from its owner, who happens to be the murder suspect.
Cyber security and privacy expert and author of “Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers and Identity Thieves, Adam Levin says our privacy is increasingly compromised by the new technology we’ve come to love.
“We are in a world now where we are surrounded by billions – six billion to be exact – internet of things devices. It should be up to 20 billion by 2020, which is pretty daunting. Just harken back to the movie, ‘Minority Report,’ where everywhere you went, something was scanning your retina and then, either serving up ads for your preferred products and services, or providing that information to law enforcement.”
Levin says people are leaving a trail of breadcrumbs wherever they go online.
“They’re willing to make the Faustian bargain: I want what I want – you’re giving me ‘freemium’ and I’ll take the benefit of the ‘freemium’ and if I have to give up my privacy to get it, that’s OK. I don’t personally think that’s OK, but I think that there are an awful lot of people out there that do. I think over time, people are going to start rethinking that, especially with new administrations coming in and new attitudes coming in.”
Levin says the law is not evolved enough to deal with this new world.
“Is your IP – your personal identifiable information – is it something that is copyrightable? Is it your property? What are the Constitutional protections that need to be strengthened in order for us not simply to be living a life in our own reality show, as the star for anyone and everyone, including the United States government and every other government that decides to visit our devices.”
Levin was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show with Doug McIntyre and Rob Marinko.