Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Dan. |
And I’m Rob. |
So Dan what’s… Oh, sorry. Oh, it’s my wife. Err… hang on… |
You didn’t answer! |
Don’t take this personally, Dan, but I’m not exactly crazy about someone eavesdropping on my phone call. |
If you eavesdrop on something, you secretly listen to someone’s conversation. |
Some things are private, you know? |
Oh! Of course! I totally understand. |
One quick question for you though… do you have a smart speaker? |
You know, like the Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. |
Oh sure, yes, I’ve got one! It’s great! |
I can ask it all sorts of questions, it tells me about the news and weather, it plays music when I want… it does all sorts! |
You just give it a voice command and it does what you want! |
So it can hear you, can it? |
Of course! How else can you give it a voice command? |
All the time? |
Well, I assume so. |
So how do you know it’s not eavesdropping on you? |
Well, I… oh… I see. |
I hadn’t thought of that. |
That’s our topic for this 6 Minute English. |
How safe is your smart speaker? |
However, before that, here’s our quiz question. |
By what percentage has the number of smart speakers used in US households increased from December 2017 to December 2018? |
Is it… a) around 40% b) around 60%, or c) around 80%? |
Oh, well, I know they are very popular even in my household. So I’m going to go for c) around 80%. |
We’ll find out if you’re right later in the programme. |
So, smart speakers and privacy! |
Florian Schaub is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. |
Here he is speaking on the BBC World Service programme The Why Factor about smart speakers. |
What does he say people are introducing into their homes? |
You’re basically introducing... listening bug in your home, in your most intimate space. |
While the companies say they are only actively listening to what’s going on in your home when they hear the keyword, |
the microphone is still on the whole time in order to be able to detect that keyword. |
We don’t know to what extent companies are co-operating with the government or to what extent the government might try to circumvent company security mechanisms in order to then be able to listen to what you’re doing. |
So what did he say people are introducing, Rob? |
He basically said we’re introducing a listening bug. |
Now, a bug is a small electronic device used for secretly listening to conversations. |
Much like a spy would use. |
Yes, and he mentioned it was in our most intimate space! |
Intimate means ’private and personal’. |
Well, I can’t think of anywhere more intimate than my home. |
Indeed! |
He also said that the smart speaker’s microphone is on the whole time |
– even though the companies insist that they’re only actively listening when the keyword is said. |
Yes, he suggested that we can’t know how far a company might be co-operating with a government to eavesdrop on people. |
Or whether a government might be circumventing a smart speaker’s security and listening in anyway without the company’s or owner’s permission! |
Circumvent means ’cleverly bypass or go around’. |
So if all this eavesdropping is possible, why are smart speakers so popular? |
Good question! |
And here’s Florian Schaub again with an answer. |
He conducted a study on people’s attitudes to privacy when it comes to smart speakers. |
How do people feel about having a smart speaker that could eavesdrop on them? |
What we often saw is people just being resigned to ’this is the trade-off they have to make’ if they want to enjoy the convenience that a smart speaker provides to them. |
He said that people are resigned to the privacy trade-off. |
If you are resigned to something, you accept something unpleasant that can’t be changed. |
Yes, and a trade-off is a compromise. |
You accept something bad to also receive something good. |
So people accept that a smart speaker gives them advantages, even though there could be downsides? |
Yes. In the grand scheme of things, the data that these devices hear is probably not that significant considering all the data companies have about us already anyway! |
So can I have the answer to the quiz then? |
Of course! |
Earlier I asked by what percentage the number of smart speakers used in US households increased from December 2017 to December 2018? |
Was it… a) around 40% b) around 60%, or c) around 80%? |
What did you say, Rob? |
I said c) around 80%. |
And you are right. |
The answer is around 80% - from 66 million in December 2017 to 118 million in December 2018, and around ten million people in the UK now use one too! |
I guess they’re really not worried about eavesdropping. |
Nice slide into the vocabulary there, Dan. |
If someone eavesdrops on you, it means they secretly listen to your conversation. |
They could be eavesdropping on you through a bug, which is a small electronic device used to secretly listen to conversations. |
Yes, they may have bugged your most intimate, or private and personal, spaces. |
Next we had circumvent. |
If you circumvent something, such as security, you cleverly or bypass it or go around it. |
Then we had resigned. |
If you are resigned to something, it means you accept something unpleasant that can’t be changed. |
And lastly, we had trade-off. |
A trade-off is a compromise. |
You get something good, but you also get something bad. |
Right - like 6 Minute English! |
A great discussion and vocabulary, but the trade-off is it only lasts six minutes! |
Which is just about now, actually - time to go. |
So until next time, find us all over the place online and on social media. |
Just search for BBC Learning English. |
Bye for now. |
Goodbye! |