> Until my parents in law installed multiple Alexa microphones in their house
How are the privacy implications of Alexa microphones any different from those of smartphones (which contain microphones and voice assistant software, just like the Echo does)?
The one saving grace with phones is if they were constantly streaming recordings 24/7, you would probably notice the battery & data consumption. Much less so with wall-powered devices connected to WiFi.
All you need to do to get around those things is just beam the recordings over when the phone is plugged in, say, when people are sleeping, and simply exempt the recorded data from the metrics.
It's easy to inspect your one, that didn't get the custom firmware loaded or bugdoor activated. To be fair the applies to mobiles as well (and probably more so since they are better targets).
OK, but this is moving the goalposts. If the CIA has put custom backdoor framework on your device then all bets are off, whether it's an Echo or a smartphone. This isn't really the situation that was being talked about on the thread.
How are the privacy implications of Alexa microphones any different from those of smartphones (which contain microphones and voice assistant software, just like the Echo does)?