Alexa in the home office: law firm warns of possible spyware digital voice assistant

Lawyer cautions caution

March 21, 2020, 2:09 pm Reading time: 1 minute

Discussions about listening to voice assistants like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant are not new, but are now attracting millions of home office workers. Lawyers from England have suggested disabling the device.

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Ever since the advent of smart speakers with voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, people are increasingly talking about secret eavesdropping via devices. A recent study showed that assistants can also be activated by mistake, but usually only transmit very little data.

But British lawyers in law firms are now warning digital assistants. Most importantly, people who have to work in home offices and talk about customer data on the phone due to the coronavirus pandemic should prefer to display devices such as Amazon Echo speakers. They also said that this sounded paranoid, but so far it was unclear whether sensitive data could be intercepted.

It is unclear whether the smart speakers and assistants will monitor permanently. Based on the above studies, there is no indication so far. However, if you are unsure of your identity, you can deactivate your device as a precautionary measure while working in your home office. We'll also give you more tips on how to work properly in your home office so you can manage your daily work at home.