Amazon Echo orders doll houses after 'hearing' TV presenter talking.

[BIAD]

Viewers say a presenter's comments about an erroneous purchase were picked up by
their gadgets, triggering even more orders.

'A US TV station has been inundated with complaints after viewers' voice-commanded Amazon Echo
systems "heard" a presenter's remarks about doll houses - and started ordering them.



Using the device's voice command assistant, which is called Alexa, a six-year-old girl in Dallas,
Texas, managed to order a $160 (£130) doll house and a tin of biscuits.

That sparked a news report on CW6 in San Diego, California, after which presenter Jim Patton said:
"I love the little girl saying 'Alexa order me a doll house'."

According to the TV station, the broadcast on Thursday sparked complaints from "viewers all over
San Diego" who said Mr Patton's words had been interpreted by their Amazon Echo devices as a
command to buy more doll houses.

Amazon has said any "accidental" purchases can be returned for free.
Users have also been advised a four-digit security code can be added to the Echo to stop unauthorised
orders. 

This option has now been taken up by the parents of the girl in Dallas, who had asked her mother's
device: "Can you play doll house with me and get me a doll house?"

Stephen Cobb, a researcher for IT security firm ESET, said the incident revealed the shortfalls of
voice-commanded gadgets. "All of these devices which record the internet of things will have some
sort of website control, some sort of setting, sometimes the setting is on the device that is communicating"
he told CW6 San Diego...'
SOURCE:

Loose lips -sink ships!

[guohua]

No Thank You,,, I don't Need or Want it!
Thank You BIAD!

[Daitengu]

Will stick with aquiring what need the old - fashioned way ..... or send the lads out to see what fell off the lorries .....

[1984hasarrived]

Great find @"BIAD" - yep this is going to be very scary.

Imagine a self drive car and you said "Stop immediately" to the kids who are misbehaving in the back, on a motorway doing 130kph (80mph for our transatlantic cousins as they will think kph is actually warp speed :p). 

All this voice activated shit is just a disaster waiting to happen, as is IoT imho, with its very poor security and connecting more and more devices.  I am a long way off getting one of these door locks you can control with a phone.