Bringing home security into the 21st century: Amazon's controversial vision | Science and Technology

In the future, Amazon plans to fly drones over rooftops, install outdoor cameras and send cute robots to patrol the house.

Astro, a 20-pound robot that looks like a dog with large, cartoon-like eyes and a cup holder, was showcased in an invite-only press conference on Tuesday. As it roams from room to room, capturing live video and learning your habits, it uses artificial intelligence, cameras, voice recognition software and mapping technology to recognize voices and faces.

The company also announced Amazon Virtual Security Guard, a subscription service that works with Ring cameras. Using Rapid Response, a third-party professional monitoring company, Ring, the smart camera and doorbell company acquired for $1 billion in 2018, will analyze a live video feed from its outdoor cameras. With the camera's two-way talk capability, agents can talk to visitors and activate the siren in case of an emergency or activate the camera's siren to send emergency services. If you already own a Ring drone, you can purchase an Always Home Cam for $250 that you can use to record video from around your home. 

These products offer Amazon the potential to gain a piece of the lucrative home security market as well as drive customers deeper into its ecosystem of household products. A number of other tech companies have entered the home security market, including Google with its Nest Aware video recording system and Nest smart doorbell. Similar products are available from manufacturers such as Logitech, Arlo, and Netamo.

Despite expanding its product line in this category, Amazon's decision comes at a time when some of the industry's biggest names are being criticized for their power and privacy practices. The latest security products from Amazon could test just how far companies can push consumers' comfort levels with such intrusive technology. With their potential for greater surveillance in and around our homes, they could raise eyebrows.

Tech companies once told us our future was like Star Trek, but Amazon sells us Robo Cops," said Albert Fox Cahn, a fellow at New York University School of Law and founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. It's true these products promise safety, but they are actually a threat. These sensors would create a disturbing new reality in which we are unable to escape the tech giant's roving drones inside our homes."

Considering that Amazon's influence and influence have been scrutinized by global regulators, Amazon is taking bold steps. Smart home devices provided by Amazon have caused privacy issues in the past. For example, a report released by Bloomberg in 2019 showed that Amazon formed a global team to transcribe Alexa's voice commands on the Echo device after detecting the wake word to better understand human voice. (Amazon later stated that people can opt out of Amazon using their recordings.) Privacy advocates also criticized Ring's 2019 initiative that made it easier for law enforcement agencies to access videos recorded on its doorbell for active investigations. (Since June, police and fire departments can only request information or videos related to active investigations through a public post called "Request for Assistance."

Shortly after the incident on Tuesday, the leaked internal documents released by Motherboard showed that the Astro development team raised concerns about the security and privacy of the Astro robot. According to reports, a staff member of the project called it a “privacy nightmare, a complaint against our society. "The Amazon representative rejected the feature description in the report in response to Motherboard, and pointed out that Astro uses processing on the device to complete tasks such as identifying individuals. After this article was published, Amazon told CNN that business privacy is the foundation of its product design. "We only collect the information needed to provide and improve the customer experience. When we collect data, we protect it and use it responsibly to improve the experience, while providing customers with transparency and control over their information," said one People say.

How Amazon tried to enter customers' homes Amazon launched the Echo speaker in 2014 and began to appear in our homes, which became a popular product for the company. Since then, Amazon has stuffed its Alexa virtual assistant into every imaginable device, effectively adapting its users to the possibility that the company has been listening to them in exchange for greater utility. Now, its latest products are basically promoted with steroids. “Obviously, with the emergence of more experimental products such as Always Home mini drone cameras and Astro robots, we are now entering different fields, but I believe Amazon is using their products to understand more consumers’ The willingness of similar devices is in their homes," said Ben Wood, principal analyst at CCS Insight, a market research company. Wood also said that some consumers are willing to accept trade-offs around privacy in exchange for the peace of mind and security provided by products from companies such as Amazon..

 

Amazon seems to be taking steps to make this trade-off feel less severe. A Ring spokesperson told CNN Business that any agent that monitors streams from its Virtual Security Guard service cannot access saved recordings, nor can it download or store any videos, and customers will know which events the agent has viewed. The customer can also set a forbidden privacy zone for the agent, but this may be a little comfort for visitors and random passers-by who are still captured by the camera. On the Astro product page, Amazon pointed out that the robot’s microphone, camera, and sensor will be disconnected when the power is off. When Astro is recording, the light will turn green and it can be programmed to avoid certain areas of the house. In addition, facial images can be deleted, and any content sent to the cloud will be encrypted. Astro did create a home map based on the locations explored by the robot, but the company said that the data sent to the cloud did not contain actual images or streaming videos.

Then there is the appearance. Jonathan Collins, director of market research company ABI Research (Jonathan Collins) said that Amazon disguised its surveillance technology as a cute companion watchdog to make it more attractive to customers. "Cuteness is subjective, but it is certain that the more emotion a person puts into a device-which can be driven by pleasant visual or audio communication-the more likely it is to be used," he said. In the company’s YouTube video released this week, Amazon developers said they drew inspiration from Astro from science fiction movies and cartoons. They also pointed out that it is important for the robot to have eyes and give it a personality so that it can better connect with users.

 

However, Wood said that Astro is built on the company's strengths in robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensor technology, voice interaction and edge computing. Coupled with Amazon's influence and scale, this release is even more compelling. He added: "With an introduction price of $1,000 and a small number of units available for limited audiences, I believe that Astro robots will be sold out in a few minutes. . The American market," Wood said. (After the invitation-only purchase period, it will eventually cost $1,500.) If Astro succeeds, it may be just the beginning. According to previous forecasts by ABI Research, by 2024, about 79 million households worldwide will install robots at home. One of the selling points of these robots is almost certainly home security features.

In a YouTube video, Amazon’s vice president of product Charlie Tritschler said that Astro’s idea was proposed after a senior leadership meeting, when someone asked if anyone in the room thought people would not use robots at home in the next 5 to 10 years. "Everyone said,'Yes, we are.' So we said, ‘Let’s get started,’ he said.