Internet of Things Applications

"In sum: Alexa is kinda my new best friend," writes Rebecca, an author and blogger on Mommyproof. As a mother of young children, it's not hard to see why: Rebecca details the joys of virtual assistant Amazon Echo, which functions as a kind of combined kitchen helper, child entertainer and DJ. "Is it weird that Alexa feels like my trusty little friend during that six pm witching hour, gently guiding me through dinnertime?"



Rebecca's not alone: Other parent bloggers have touted the device's family-friendly uses when it comes to child care and household tasks. Many of these "mommy blog" posts are sponsored by Amazon in an ad campaign explicitly geared toward families with young children. In one recent television spot for the device, a young father excitedly purchases an Echo and watches as Alexa slowly becomes an integral part of the household.

But what about the realities of bringing an "always on" device that records children's voices into the privacy of one's home? A new investigation explores potential violations of childhood privacy laws by devices such as Amazon Echo. According to The Guardian, companies with virtual assistants, such as Amazon, could be fined millions of dollars for the collection of children's data without explicit parental consent. Specifically, these AI devices store audio files of children's voice commands, but don't provide any information on how long these files are stored or how they are being used.

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Collecting data on children has been a hot button issue of late. Recent reports demonstrate that education technology companies, such as those behind the effort to computerize the Common Core tests, are quietly collecting and selling data on students. This data is used for marketing purposes, to help target ad dollars toward the next generation of consumers. In the report “Learning to be Watched: Surveillance Culture at School," published by the National Center for Education Policy, Facebook and Google are identified as two of the biggest culprits. The report calls for greater insight into data collection processes and the requirement of parental consent.

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But as Montgomery and Chester stress, it's the companies that need to take responsibility for informing parents about what's happening to data about their children. "This digital media that is driven by certain business models, that reward and incentivize certain behaviors... are fostering new social norms. You may not be thinking about whether this is the kind of society that we want to have here," said Montgomery.

See more at: washingtonpost.com