this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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The same people who buy mobile phones; despite those being bugs/spy-devices.
True, but a mobile phone is basically a world brain, calculator, camera, flashlight, you can watch movies on it in hi def, hate it all you want, it's one of the most versatile tools on the planet. An echo dot, it just spy garbage and nothing else
I mean what better spot to syphon of each and every piece of information about you....
Phones are at least easier to justify since everyone kinda needs one now and there aren't many great private options, especially for the lay person
If you give up your freedom for convenience, then you will lose both.
I mean, it's not convience. It's outright necessary for most jobs.
I mean yeah, but for a lot of people if they ditch their phone they'll also lose their job and possibly relationships they value.
Cell phones spying on people isn't good, but most people are simply not informed about how invasive they are and couldn't make an informed decision if they tried. Pair that with the fact that cell phones are essential for a lot of modern life, and it's not difficult to see why the average person is generally more wary of smart speakers than cell phones.
The whole damn situation was a trap.
Lmao. Why complain about one and try to justify the other...
I meant they're easier to justify in the sense that I see why people don't put much thought into putting a spying device in their pocket, not that I agree with the disregard. Most peoples' friends, family, employers, etc. all expect them to have a cell phone and be available by it. Additionally, the way most people interact with their phones, the spying is much less obvious. They joke about them "always listening", but a lot of people don't understand the privacy concerns of pretty typical internet use, so the fact that the device has more than just a microphone, it appears to be worth it to a more typical consumer than us.
Contrast that with an Alexa, google home, or apple home thing, devices which nobody cares if someone else doesn't own, which most people only see as a microphone and speaker, and whose primary functionality is to always be listening to you. The skepticism is much easier to arise.
I'm not saying the level at which cell phones spy on their users is acceptable or even worth it, just that I see why the average user who isn't conscious of their privacy doesn't regard them with the same concern they do smart speakers.
More directly comparable, is the Ring cameras inside the house.
At least, on mobile devices, it's typically easier to install a privacy-focused firmware (like LineageOS or GrapheneOS). Those AI assistants are completely locked down.
I am sorry but the telephony system itself is fundamentally a privacy threat.
Wait till you find out about the internet and social media (including here).
So is the internet.