2019-05-15

How creepy is your smart speaker?
Worries about privacy are overstated, but not entirely without merit. Your move, Alexa
原文来源：The Economist 2019-5-10

Article

https://frankzhougq.github.io/article/TE-2019-05-15/

Notes

infringing privacy
侵犯隐私

Using it is like casting a spell.
念咒语

This hands-free convenience has a cost
解放了双手的便利

the speakers are constantly listening out for commands

listen ('out) for sth
to be prepared to hear a particular sound 留心听（某种声音）
Can you listen out for the doorbell?
你能留心听着门铃吗？

So start with some myth-busting.
神话克星

the tech giants’ digital vaults.
数字仓库保险柜

They listen out for wake words, and then send what follows to the cloud as an audio clip;

acquire new skills as their cloud-based brains are continually upgraded.
云大脑

What if hackers infiltrate the devices?
悄悄潜入

snoop on people
窥探

eschewing smart speakers does not solve it.
回避

including location-tracking GPS chips and accelerometers than can reveal when and how the phone is moving.

the big tech firms are expanding into adjacent areas such as shopping services, finance and entertainment. Over time this may mean their incentives to snoop and misuse data rise.
多元经营，动力更足了

But there will also be a countervailing incentive for manufacturers to differentiate themselves by making more privacy-friendly devices that promise not to store voice commands, or process more on the device rather than in the cloud (though this will be more expensive).
抵消的动力；差异化产品

how to balance convenience and privacy.

If this magical technology is to reach its full potential,
发挥全部的潜能