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Memo: Conceptualizing Trust as a Mediator for using Alexa

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Memo: Conceptualizing Trust as a Mediator for using Alexa

To: Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Devices and Services at Amazon

Re: Amazon should create trustful relationships with customers by creating better privacy/security and data custodianship policies

From: Canes Consulting

Date: April 6, 2020

Introduction

CanesConsulting provides advice on how companies can improve trust for customers in the online environment.  As a top senior consultant with over ten years’ experience providing cybersecurity advice and creating frameworks to strengthen data security, I will provide you with three recommendations, such as establishing strong standards for IoT data use and security/privacy protection. The second proposal is creating data transparency for Alexa’s users and incorporating conversational privacy dialogs. Arguably, trust is an essential factor for existing and potential customers because people need to feel they have power over their data and security when having private conversations. This memorandum deliberates on data custodianship, safety, and the right to privacy of individual dialogs.

Trust

Trust is the confidence in the integrity of a person or thing. However, one example, such as using consumer recordings to improve customer services, can seriously affect trust. While that activity has become optional, customers may perceive Alexa as a security threat. While regulatory safeguards are useful, Amazon needs to build trust around IoT devices if the firm is to enjoy customer loyalty and output by incorporating internal policies that users can rely upon.  

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Private Conversations

when the Echo smart speakers are turned off, the device can turn when users randomly use commands in conversations (out of context). Therefore, Alexa may record private conversations when Echo speakers are off, as speakers randomly wait for commands to turn on. Thus, speakers can be recording private information without users’ knowledge and storing data on the cloud.

Data Custodianship

Alexa has become a Cash cow for Amazon as Alexa provides constant revenue for the firm. However, issues on data ownership and privacy/security issues can change customer perceptions, which affect how the firm attains fiscal objectives.  One of the most important principles is for the company to integrate trust, especially in data custodianship. One of the policies set by Amazon states that when users buy Alexa, they allow Amazon to use the data collected to augment customer services. The rules also state that Amazon cannot share customer data unless a warrant required by law enforcement could exonerate or prosecute criminals. To this extent, potential customers may refuse to buy smart speakers to mitigate privacy/data custodianship violations. Therefore, Amazon must understand this risk and take measures to by mediating trust with its consumers.

Privacy/Security Risks

As concerns, privacy, and security, Amazon is expected to protect consumers from cybercrime. Hacking, for example, exposes consumer data to fraudulent activities such as identity theft. Hackers can now use internet services to access electronics in someone’s home and manipulate those services for harmful purposes. Alexa, in particular, is prone to this risk, especially from hackers out of the home environment, as long as they are on the same network.

Recommendations

It is crucial to identify that Alexa records in the middle of private conversations, which severely affects privacy. Amazon can mitigate this issue by including conversational privacy into Alexa and make new setup settings and set up tips that can help users make changes to how long data should be stored as well as other disclosure practices that can avert privacy breach at home. Alternatively, the consumers can have a leeway of deleting data if they do not want to save it. By deleting existing recordings, customers can be at ease of their privacy without worrying about consent to retrieve previously stored data.

Amazon needs to create robust standards and frameworks for Alexa as well as privacy protections that users can rely on. Firstly, Amazon needs to look into a method of improving security for the devices. The idea of using such policies is to create a space where there are trust interactions between Amazon and Consumers. Robust standards and framework changes can be, for example, the auto-deletion of sensitive data between specific periods (at night or during the day).

As well, Amazon must establish transparent communications by which people can understand current data practices such as what data is used from Alexa and for how long it stays on the cloud before the firm deletes the information. The problem is that some users find this information elusive and unclear. Therefore, transparency is the only way to create trust among users.

Conclusion

To summarize, privacy always plays an essential role in the business because it is unlikely for customers to purchase items they perceive as unsafe. Considering that residences are the one place people enjoy their privacy, Amazon needs to reevaluate data ownership and privacy/security issues. Therefore, establishing trustful relationships requires Amazon to place strong standards for privacy protections that customers can rely on.  Secondly, the firm can develop a method to augment transparency on the firm’s data practices, including how the firm stores data and for how it is used. Most importantly, it is necessary to reconsider the conversational dialog policies by creating methods that can help users choose to store or permanently delete data.

 

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