Alexa AI - all your Echo data are ours

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by haertig

For that use, you might even want to consider booting from a thumbdrive. Either MX Linux or AntiX have great capabilities for thumbdrive boot. Make sure the thumbdrive is USB 3 and plugged into a USB 3 port on your computer. On boot, choose the option to load the entire OS into RAM. You can then remove the thumbdrive after boot and run totally out of RAM. One, this runs faster than snot, and two, you don't have to worry about any malware because everything is only in RAM. As soon as you power down, everything is gone. If you want to save something you can always leave the thumbdrive in place or connect a different storage peripheral and mount that temporarily. Or email the files to yourself, or copy them to a cloud drive, or whatever. You can "install" additional programs after boot and these are "installed" into RAM only.

You can boot from a "clean" OS on the thumbdrive, install the programs that you always want available - Calibre and whatever else - then write these back to the thumbdrive. MX and AntiX call this "remastering". From then on your thumbdrive boot will include all these extra programs that you added.

Another good use for this, especially for people that are security conscious, is to boot to RAM, install a new potentially suspect program, give it a quick run through, then examine the "layer" of RAM on "top" of the initial OS boot (these thumbdrive boots use a "layered filesystem"). You can easily see everything that has happened on your computer - things added, deleted or changed - since boot by looking at the appropriate layer only.

Booting totally into RAM is also mandatory, IMHO, if you are venturing onto the Dark Web. There is lots of good and legit stuff on the Dark Web even though most people think it's all bad and criminal. But you do have to be aware that all normal safeguards are off in that world, and control your behavior appropriately. One part of appropriate behavior is to do everything only in RAM so it all disappears when you reboot.

Booting from RAM has intrigued me ever since I stumbled across Slax linux, I keep meaning to create a bootable USB of Slax and give it go, I must get round to doing it. Personally I would never touch the Dark Web as I'm not computer literate enough so would probably be opening myself up to a world of hurt!

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Graham44

Booting from RAM has intrigued me ever since I stumbled across Slax linux, I keep meaning to create a bootable USB of Slax and give it go, I must get round to doing it. Personally I would never touch the Dark Web as I'm not computer literate enough so would probably be opening myself up to a world of hurt!

I have used Slax in the past. I would recommend you opt for AntiX these days.

[crossi]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's listening.

To what? Me talking silly to my cat? If I was plotting an insurrection or something I would unplug it while doing so.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by Graham44

* Android tablets have this stupid thing whereas if you delete your Google account before wiping your data from your tablet you then can't do a factory re-set, or at least I couldn't on the Samsung one I had

Which Samsung tablet did you have?

I haven't had an issue with doing factory resets on my Android tablets, both with deleted accounts, and without deleting accounts, and with no accounts setup.

For some devices, one has to make magickal gestures, to convince the tablet to do a factory reset.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by haertig

When interacting with Alexa and having conversations transmitted over the internet (in voice or transcribed form), the majority of people are probably asking about the weather, the time, setting wake up alarms, asking how long to cook a pot roast, and mundane things like that.

How sensitive that data is, depends upon what use will be made of it by the recipient. Amazon, among other internet based retailers, has been known to adjust the price of goods it sells, based upon the data it has, of the individual.

The other issue is that just because it is legal and acceptable to ask about something today, does not mean that tomorrow the same question will be either legal, or acceptable. I've seen too many regimes that have thrown people into jail for things that were not crimes before the junta gained power, but were crimes after doing so.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Amazon, among other internet based retailers, has been known to adjust the price of goods it sells, based upon the data it has, of the individual.

I wish they'd figure that out. I've been watching a "basting dome" (used for cooking) on Amazon for a week. They have changed the price every single day. Once, they changed the price twice in one day. In the last week this thing has ranged from $11.99 to $18.99 and everywhere in between. I guess Amazon just can't quite correlate their data on me and figure out exactly when I might really need this thing so they can jack up the price at the last minute. Their pricing A.I. sucks. Next week, I'll probably put it in my cart - buy not complete the purchase just yet - to really throw them for a loop. The "let it sit there and age in your cart" technique usually results in a price drop after a few days/weeks. I can wait - I already have one basting dome and this second one is not an urgent purchase (Shhh! Don't tell Amazon that!)

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Which Samsung tablet did you have?

I haven't had an issue with doing factory resets on my Android tablets, both with deleted accounts, and without deleting accounts, and with no accounts setup.

For some devices, one has to make magickal gestures, to convince the tablet to do a factory reset.

I honestly can't remember the model number (it's long gone) I do remember the factory re-set option was in one of the menus and when you touched the option it then asked you for your password, which is where I then couldn't proceed (tried but it wouldn't let me as it said the password wasn't valid or something) by this point I'd had enough of jumping through hoops just to get rid of Google (try deleting a Google account - it must ask you a gazillion times if you're sure you want to delete ) that I took the easiest permanent solution

[Renate]

Originally Posted by haertig

(Shhh! Don't tell Amazon that!)

I know somebody who just got banned from ebay.
They've never sold anything, they have no disputes, there's no suspicious activity.
As with any company there's no recourse, but they'll lead you around in automated circles as long as you like.
These companies are fiefdoms answerable to no one.

In the old days not buying at Store X could be a personal decision.
Nowadays I'm amazed at how often I can only find something on Amazon.
But I don't buy on Amazon.

[jackm8]

Heh, that's exactly how the evolution of commerce went. First people stopped buying from the farmers, since village store had more to offer. Then came marketplaces, malls, supermarkets, each with stronger hold, now we have monopolistic web merchants with nearly unlimited power.