St. Louis University Is Installing Amazon Alexa-Enabled Echo Dots Campus-Wide

DooKey

DooKey

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St. Louis University is going to install Echo Dots campus-wide. These Dots are pre-programmed to answer 100 questions about the campus and activities. This will be the first time a university will be deploying these devices in every single dorm room. Amazon Alexa for Business is managing the devices and they won't cost the students anything and aren't tied to individual accounts. SLU is so proud of this program that they are advertising it on YouTube. Watch out, Alexa is coming for all of us sooner or later.

Even though the pilot program received positive reviews, the school notes that students with privacy concerns about intelligent assistants like Alexa can unplug the device and store it during the school year if they feel uncomfortable having it in their rooms.
 
Obligatory post about smartphones are already tracking and watching you so why are you worried about Alexa?
 
Please tell me this is a study to see which students of what majors REALLY study the most.
 
Just getting people used to having it in their private domiciles. Once these students leave college, they won't think anything of having one of these devices in their home. They may even think they are a necessary part of modern life.

The implications of this, and if more universities follow suite, are huge.
 
jardows said:
Just getting people used to having it in their private domiciles. Once these students leave college, they won't think anything of having one of these devices in their home. They may even think they are a necessary part of modern life.

The implications of this, and if more universities follow suite, are huge.
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Indoctrination.......
 
jardows said:
Just getting people used to having it in their private domiciles. Once these students leave college, they won't think anything of having one of these devices in their home. They may even think they are a necessary part of modern life.

The implications of this, and if more universities follow suite, are huge.
Click to expand...


Jeez you people are ridiculous. As if having a dot in your house is any worse than carrying a cell phone around with you wherever you go; logging your GPS locations, the websites you visit (aka all the porn you watch on pornhub), and whatever other data you've already given the apps on your phone access to. If you really have something to hide, if you don't want it to hear you jerking off to cat videos, and nerd raging on Discord, then push the damn button to turn off the microphone or unplug it. I'm not implying that you do or you don't have important things you need to keep secret, just that you have full control over this particular device to protect yourself if you need to. I mean, if you have issues with this you might as well throw your cell phone in the trash because you have a lot less control over that.

That said I'm not saying I agree with the university doing something like this, but I dont think its a big deal as long as the school itself doesn't have access to the "logs" or the ability to listen in real time. Which, from my experience working with Alexa skills they should not be able to do unless Amazon is making custom changes to the OS specifically for them. If they are using actual DOTs in the dorm rooms I'd imagine they also have a mute button and can be unplugged? Perhaps they are hard wiring it inside of some sort of wall mount, who knows? In either case if you're running a drug dealing operation out of your dorm room, or plotting to kill someone, I would imagine you'd find a safer place to talk about it than a dorm room.
 
kju1 said:
Too bad there arent any cameras on those things ;)
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we got bush.jpg
 
Brilliant move on Amazon's part. Taking a page from the Apple playbook.

Get them used to using/living with the device early enough they will not think twice about having it around them all the time. Home, office, retail stores,...the possibilities. Brilliant.
 
ZenDragon said:
Jeez you people are ridiculous. As if having a dot in your house is any worse than carrying a cell phone around with you wherever you go; logging your GPS locations, the websites you visit (aka all the porn you watch on pornhub), and whatever other data you've already given the apps on your phone access to. If you really have something to hide, if you don't want it to hear you jerking off to cat videos, and nerd raging on Discord, then push the damn button to turn off the microphone or unplug it. I'm not implying that you do or you don't have important things you need to keep secret, just that you have full control over this particular device to protect yourself if you need to. I mean, if you have issues with this you might as well throw your cell phone in the trash because you have a lot less control over that.
Click to expand...

I purposely did not mention what the implications of this could be. You are thinking it, though. Deep in your mind you know this can't be right. ;)

BSmith said:
Brilliant move on Amazon's part. Taking a page from the Apple playbook.

Get them used to using/living with the device early enough they will not think twice about having it around them all the time. Home, office, retail stores,...the possibilities. Brilliant.
Click to expand...

This is really more what I was thinking, at least as an immediate implication.
 
jardows said:
Just getting people used to having it in their private domiciles. Once these students leave college, they won't think anything of having one of these devices in their home. They may even think they are a necessary part of modern life.

The implications of this, and if more universities follow suite, are huge.
Click to expand...


The Microsoft office strategy of product dominance. They gave (maybe still do?) away office for free to pretty much any college student. The objective was to have educated people familiar with and want to use a product in their future workplace, which creates pressure on business to license MS products, office, etc. top to bottom.
 
While, Alexa play dance music “everywhere” would be a fun way to get the whole campus rocking.

Alexa, drop in on room 114, is a disturbing thought.
 
only those that don't own a smart phone can make a case against not having one of these things. Otherwise, shut the hell up because most of us carry a tracking device capable of spying in much more intrusive ways than these things. It's even been proven that Android devices are tracking even when you tell it not to. I've monitored the traffic going in and out of Alexa and the only time it's sending/receiving data is after you say its keyword. After that you can bet it's listening in to everything and that's not to say it can't be hacked because it could but if you put simple monitors in place and have it on its own network then you would know. Things any [H] user should know how to do.
 
Apple IIs, etc, in K-12 seems to have paid off fairly well for Apple. Academic Office has helped Microsoft. Why shouldn't Amazon learn from others? Wonder how long before pre-programmed question 101 gives instructions for signing up for Student Discount Prime?
 
Rahh said:
only those that don't own a smart phone can make a case against not having one of these things. Otherwise, shut the hell up because most of us carry a tracking device capable of spying in much more intrusive ways than these things. It's even been proven that Android devices are tracking even when you tell it not to. I've monitored the traffic going in and out of Alexa and the only time it's sending/receiving data is after you say its keyword. After that you can bet it's listening in to everything and that's not to say it can't be hacked because it could but if you put simple monitors in place and have it on its own network then you would know. Things any [H] user should know how to do.
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Using that logic, could you kindly post your picture, home address, phone number, and list of contacts on this forum please? Oh, you don't want to? Why? Apple and Android already have all that info, so what's wrong with it?

Just because we begrudgingly accept bad behavior from one source doesn't mean it's not bad behavior or that we find it acceptable for anyone else to do as well.
 
Guys, a cell phone is not purpose built to actively listen and log to everything you say in your room. The fact that the data it's providing (if you're allowing for the services to run) can be used for spying you is only a risk if you're a high profile target and someone really wants to target you. But alexa and likes of it are built for no other purpose than to listen and log every word you say _for explicitly commercial purposes, including selling your data to big data_. The 'turning on' feature is 100% sure just a scam.
 
SomeoneElse said:
I wish I could say yes but we are at the point of no return......the powers that be want to stay there. We just aren't to the point of NK yet.....but its headed that way.
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we already have the fat idiot dictator. We're just one more "terrorist" attack away from watching what freedoms are left go out the window. Not saying that the last one was an inside job or anything but they knew it was coming and chose not to do anything.
 
Rahh said:
I've monitored the traffic going in and out of Alexa and the only time it's sending/receiving data is after you say its keyword.
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You mean, you've monitored a device with a specific firmware that you have access to.

You have no idea what firmware is going on these devices, or even what is going on yours next.
 
I have a son at SLU. An Echo Dot is the least we should get for the tuition. ;)
 
mkrohn said:
we already have the fat idiot dictator. We're just one more "terrorist" attack away from watching what freedoms are left go out the window. Not saying that the last one was an inside job or anything but they knew it was coming and chose not to do anything.
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Fat idiot dictator?

Man, I just don't get it. There are so many things wrong with Trump that you might die before listing them all and you go and pick like the only 3 negative English words that are false when applied to Trump. He does a fantastic job of doing bad shit, so don't worry, you don't need to help him by lying to add to it.

edit: didn't see you are one of those 9/11 was an inside job types. Makes sense now why you would opt to go for the only 3 false negative claims over the 1000's of true negative claims now.
 
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DNMock said:
Fat idiot dictator?

Man, I just don't get it. There are so many things wrong with Trump that you might die before listing them all and you go and pick like the only 3 negative English words that are false when applied to Trump. He does a fantastic job of doing bad shit, so don't worry, you don't need to help him by lying to add to it.

edit: didn't see you are one of those 9/11 was an inside job types. Makes sense now why you would opt to go for the only 3 false negative claims over the 1000's of true negative claims now.
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are you saying he's not fat?
 
mkrohn said:
are you saying he's not fat?
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That dumpster fire is 70+ years old, he looks like he is in pretty decent physical condition given his age. Probably has a lot to do with the billions he swindled people out of, but I digress

(and that is how you denigrate someone without saying anything false, kids)
 
DNMock said:
That dumpster fire is 70+ years old, he looks like he is in pretty decent physical condition given his age. Probably has a lot to do with the billions he swindled people out of, but I digress

(and that is how you denigrate someone without saying anything false, kids)
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If you consider that decent physical condition, that is an extremely low bar you have set there. I know plenty of 70+ year olds who aren't 3 times the size they should be.

Back on topic..jesus..is this something else I have to worry about when I send my kids to college? Really? Because colleges aren't raping them financially enough already? Apparently I now also have to ensure they can afford an off campus apartment.
 
What’s interesting to me is Amazon Alexa for business is managing the devices and it doesn’t cost anything....except the data they mine and of course probably repair bills etc.

What the standard they had to meet to put these in place and now what if some other company wants some form of tracking and camera system in place as well.

Eventually these cost the taxpayers. I am just excited they answer 100 questions about the campus and activities now they can fire x number of employees and reduce costs further. /s
 
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