A murder case in the US raises concerns about the "Internet of Things"
In November 2015, James Bates invited some friends to his house in Bentonville, Arkansas to watch a football game togetherRazorbacks, the University of Arkansas team. The next morning, one of the friends, Victor Collins, was found dead in a hot tub in Bates' backyard, apparently from strangulation. Bates was indicted for murder; He, on the other hand, claimed his innocence. But during the police investigation, the investigators discovered something interesting. A device was found in his home Amazon's Echo, the popular black metal cylinder that constantly listens to voice commands and questions, a kind of home version of Apple's virtual personal assistant, Siri.
Police issued a search warrant against Amazon in hopes of retrieving the recordings made by the device on that fateful night that might be indicative of what happened at Bates' home. But the chances of retrieving the information were slim. Although Amazon's Echo is always listening, it only responds to commands and questions if the word "Alexa". As long as the name of the virtual personal assistant that activates Echo is not called, no audio signal is recorded or transmitted. From the moment its name is called, Echo's LEDs begin to flash a bright bluish light as the user's request is sent to Amazon's computers for a response. But rarely does it seem to Echo that the word "Alexa" has been spoken and it reacts illogically to everything that is said after that. Police investigators hoped that if such an unusual event did occur on the night of the murder, they would be able to retrieve a few seconds of recording.
Either way, Amazon provided investigators with its customer's subscription details and information about the purchase, but refused to turn over any recordings or other data related to communications between Bates and his Echo. "As a general rule, Amazon opposes sweeping demands or those that are otherwise inappropriate," the company's statement said. And between the lines, you could hear the message: "If the public thinks we are recording the conversations people have in their homes and making the recordings available to law enforcement agencies, that will be the end of the Echo product line!"
This is not the first time that a major electronics company has refused to cooperate with law enforcement on the grounds that this would violate the right to privacy of its customers. You probably remember that in 2016 the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asked Apple to allow it to "Back door access” for iPhone of The shooter from San Bernardino, but Apple rejected the request. (FBI agents were eventually able to gain access to the confidential information stored on the cell phone through other means.)
In the murder case in Arkansas, the police eventually managed to find a clue to solving the mystery, not through the echo, but thanks toThe smart water meter of Bates. According to the water meter data, 530 liters of water were used at some time between 1 and 3 after midnight on the night of the murder. It didn't seem to researchers that Bates actually showered for that long; In fact, the investigators believe that Bates used the water to wash away the evidence of what happened in his yard.
Legally, Amazon could also find itself in trouble. "Amazon risks legal proceedings against it for contempt of court due to its refusal to cooperate fully," says Peter Goffin, who heads the department that handles information security and the right to privacy at the Pierce Atwood law firm. "If the parties cannot reach an agreement on obtaining the information, proceedings may be taken against Amazon for contempt of court."
And that is indeed the state of affairs today. At the time of writing, Nathan Smith, the plaintiff's attorney in the trial against Bates, told me that the matter will likely go to court later in 2017 and that the lawsuit still hopes to reach a settlement with Amazon. But if the company persists in its refusal to cooperate, he will have no choice but to sue her.
It seems that we are likely to witness these kinds of conflicts more and more often. At the giant exhibition for consumer electronic products (CES) held at the beginning of 2017 in Las Vegas, echo compatibility was the hottest trend. As revealed only recently, a surprising number of household appliances can respond to voice commands that the user gives the Echo: refrigerators, light switches, electrical splitters, lamps, speakers, robotic vacuum cleaners, set-top boxes, televisions, security cameras, door locks, air purifiers Electronics, washing machines and dryers, cars, and much more.
As we fill our homes with devices that constantly listen and follow us, confrontations with law enforcement authorities over the right to privacy in the digital space are going to happen more and more often. "There are currently no laws that apply to that," says Goffin. "We have not enacted laws dealing with this developing area of surveillance: our movements in our home, the groceries we put in our refrigerators, the amount of energy we consume, the conversations we have at our mothers' doors." Dear legislators: The Internet of things listening is already here, as an integral part of our lives. It seems that you should pay attention to the subject.
