This is practical - but it can pose security and data protection risks when working from home, as information can fall into the wrong hands. What many people don't know: Voice assistants usually transmit the voice commands and recordings to the provider's cloud.
“So all sorts of data is collected. The systems record music titles as well as travel destinations, telephone numbers or account details,” says Tobias Messer, in-house lawyer and group data protection officer at R+V Versicherung. What happens to the collected data is not obvious to users at first glance. Messer says: “Many questions remain unanswered. Where and how long are the voice commands stored? Is the information copied, evaluated and passed on to third parties or sold? Is the data safe from hackers?”
Switch off voice assistants in the home office
These points are particularly critical when it comes to sensitive data – private or professional.
“The voice assistants may also listen in while working from home and could, for example, record confidential phone calls,” warns Messer. It is sometimes enough if the corresponding function is activated on the smartphone or the smart speaker connected to the Internet. Particularly critical: The activated devices do not only record when they hear a signal word. They sometimes do this with similar-sounding words too. The expert therefore recommends turning off voice assistants during working hours – or at least during confidential conversations. “This is the safest way to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands.”
Also read: Can cell phones listen in? An experiment
Further tips from the R+V information center:
- Voice assistants are usually enabled by default to be able to execute commands at any time. So you are at the reception and record what is said during business contacts, with family or with visitors.
- If the voice assistant is deactivated, this also protects against unauthorized people using it. Smart speakers, for example, can also implement or save commands from strangers.
- You can protect yourself additionally with a password or a user profile. This also allows you to restrict the group of people who can use the voice assistant.
- Saved activities – i.e. voice recordings – should be checked regularly and deleted if necessary.
- If security updates are available, the device software should always be updated as quickly as possible.
Source: R+V Infocenter
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