Smart speaker alerts authorities to alleged domestic assault incident

[midian182]

As an increasing number of smart speakers make their way into homes, more concerns are being raised about the devices' “always listening” capabilities. But it seems the feature could have potentially saved a life by alerting authorities to an incident of domestic violence.

According to ABC News, Eduardo Barros was house-sitting with his girlfriend and her daughter at a residence in Tijeras, New Mexico when the couple got into an argument that turned violent. He allegedly drew a firearm and threatened to kill his partner, but a phrase that was misheard by the smart speaker could have averted a tragedy.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Department spokesperson Deputy Felicia Romero says that when Barros asked “did you call the sheriffs?” the device interpreted this as a command to call 911. The operator heard what was happening in the background and sent law enforcement teams to the residence. Following many hours of negotiations, Barros was taken into custody.

While Barros’s girlfriend was injured, she did not require a visit to the hospital. Her daughter was unharmed. “The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life,” Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III said in a statement.

It still isn’t clear which brand of home speaker called the emergency services. And as Barros was house-sitting at the time, there’s a chance he might not have known it was even there. But this is definitely an instance where the AI mistaking conversations for a voice command was a good thing.

Barros is facing charges of possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon, aggravated battery against a household member, aggravated assault against a household member, and false imprisonment.

Back in March, a defendant in a murder case gave police permission to search the audio recordings on his Amazon Echo after the tech giant initially refused to hand it over.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/70048-smart-speaker-alerts-authorities-domestic-assault-incident.html

 

[andrewdoyle88]

Great. Now we have to unplug our smart speakers when we want to listen to Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Great. Now we have to unplug our smart speakers when we want to listen to Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff?

Better question, why not just buy dumb speakers?

 

[p51d007]

Great. Now we have to unplug our smart speakers when we want to listen to Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff?

You win the internet for the day.

 

[psycros]

So...scared yet? Or are the usual apologists going to rally around the police state once again? You KNOW this will be used to push Big Brother measures - probably in secret - to have all smart devices listening for even MORE keywords. Forget about SWATting yourself by talking about jihad and bombs within earshot of a connected device..now you can do it just by saying, "I swear, I'm gonna murder my ex-wife."

 

[Uncle Al]

Yeah, the potential for abuse is more than a small thing. Just look at what too many departments are already doing with some of the more sophisticated gear out there. What is more surprising is that the Federal Courts or even the Supreme Court hasn't been brought into the situation. I'd love to have a peak at the FISA court subpoenas to see if they have issued a "blanket subpoena" under request by the FBI or NSA as part of "anti-terrorist" sweeps. I am also curious if a local jurisdiction can use a FISA warrant or if it is strictly applied by the Fed's only?

 

[TheBigT42]

I would like to get these and play audio clips of fight scenes on them.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Minority Report on a whole different level here... Now our smart phones, smart TV's, and smart speakers will call the local po-po when say something scary.

While I'll certainly agree technology can be great and in this type of scenario could certainly save lives, it is almost certainly invasion of privacy. This is a really controversial piece of tech, for sure.

On the plus side maybe it will help the Homer Simpsons's of the world...
Homer - "Hello operator, what's the number for 911?"

 

[captaincranky]

This whole scenario is the realization of George Orwell's worst nightmares. Between your hacked laptop camera, and Amazon's "Alexa", you now have the full equivalent of 1984's "Telescreen" right in your living room.

So now, you can't say certain words or phrases, and "newspeak" emerges.

Should you speak those forbidden words, you have committed at the very least, "crimethink".

What I find utterly appalling and baffling is, the government didn't do this to you, Donald Trump isn't doing this to you, you did it to yourselves, "of your own free will"! <Please note the shock quotes!

In my worst nightmares, I can't possibly even imagine being naive enough, needly enough, lazy enough, or outright stupid enough, to bring one of these hellish devices into my home, without an army at the door forcing it on me.

 

[wiyosaya]

So...scared yet? Or are the usual apologists going to rally around the police state once again? You KNOW this will be used to push Big Brother measures - probably in secret - to have all smart devices listening for even MORE keywords. Forget about SWATting yourself by talking about jihad and bombs within earshot of a connected device..now you can do it just by saying, "I swear, I'm gonna murder my ex-wife."

I've heard that police consider domestic violence calls one of the worst calls to get because they can quickly go south. While this incident just happened to end on an upbeat note, it could just as easily have gone the other way especially given the text in the article "after several hours of negotiations". That certainly left a long time for things to go south.

Anyone that might get one of these after reading this news item because they have an abusive partner would be better off just leaving the partner in the first place.

And last but not least, there are privacy issues with these things. Personally, I cannot see having one.

 

[wiyosaya]

<...>
In my worst nightmares, I can't possibly even imagine being naive enough, needly enough, lazy enough, or outright stupid enough, to bring one of these hellish devices into my home, without an army at the door forcing it on me.

Be careful what you wish for.