Are you ready to add a new member to your family? Well, Amazon (AMZN, Financial) is surely ready to offer that. The Seattle-based tech giant has come out with a new gadget in the market that it calls Echo - an intelligent voice recognition personal assistant much like Apple's (AAPL, Financial) Siri. But instead of being only in your hand-held device, Echo can be anywhere you want it to be. It’s always on and  ready to respond to your requests. But is there a dark side to this? Let’s take a look.
What Amazon Echo has to offer
Amazon’s new toy is an intelligent creature. Some are even calling it a humanoid device – something that’s android, but responds like humans do. Amazon quietly launched the device into the market without months of anticipation and rigorous rounds of rumors.
As the above picture suggests, Echo is a cylindrical device that you can put anywhere, right in your living room or your kitchen. Just like Siri, Microsoft's (MSFT, Financial) Cortana and all other voice-enabled personal assistants, Echo responds to all your questions, cracks jokes, wakes you up on time, reminds you of important events, helps you shop better, and more. As of now you can’t get your hands on Echo that easily, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can apply and get the device for $99.
Is there a dark side to this technology?
Well, every piece of technology can be used for good and bad. The same goes for Echo. Industry experts and analysts are a little concerned about how safe it actually is to have such a device in your home. Echo is always on and it kicks in when it hears the word "Alexa." This also means that it can hear and understand all other words as well. So, if it’s always listening and it’s connected to the cloud, there’s a possibility that all that private and personal data can be passed on to the cloud where someone can use that data.
Just imagine a world where Amazon knows everything about you – if you had a fight with your wife last night, if you are at home or not, you have guests over, what songs you like to hear, what items you typically buy, and so many more. The very thought that all that personal information is being processed somewhere is scary. Echo’s purpose has been aptly captured in a Forbes report that mentions, “Echo is more about mining you, your friends and your family for deep insights than being an inexpensive speaker and answer genie.”
Companies all across the globe are trying to extract real life data through mobile apps, through software and cookies that track social media activities. Facebook (FB, Financial), Google (GOOG, Financial) and several others are in the business of dealing with huge amounts of data about real life individuals, and then intelligently using such information to identify patterns and market products. Echo will be able to tap into the real-life conversations and thereby will have access to unlimited amount of personal information about preferences. Accordingly, it will be able to suggest products that may range from clothes to groceries and everything in between.
Parting thoughts
But, let’s not get that negative. Amazon has already thought about all the concerns its users might have. Surely everything that’s uttered around Echo is stored in the Amazon server. But the company also offers an option that allows the users to clear history (using the Echo companion app) and erase all that data. There is a button that allows the users to turn off or on the microphone on the device. So, if you have something private to discuss, you can just hit the small button and get going. All in all, Amazon Echo can turn out to be a fun gadget to have. Just remember to clear all that data from time to time.
