Question about the Fire Stick

[Maddog 521]

My daughter brought an Amazon TV Fire Stick over here today and hooked it up to our TV. After it was working she told the remote to go to a certain channel. Alexa go to, Prime Video. I thought, not only no but #e!! no. So on to the questions. Do any of you use this device? Is it safe to use, or should I disconnect it? I researched it and, yes it's listening. yes it's recording, and some say it's watching. I've never had anything like this in my humble abode before. Am I over reacting or not? Thanks

 

[Onomea]

You can turn Alexa (the AI voice function) off. I do that with my TVs that have the Firestick/Amazon Prime app/Alexa function built in.

How to Turn off Alexa Voice Assistant on Your Amazon Fire Stick

I don't worry that Alexa is listening into my plots to overthrow the government or to my non-step sexual shenanigans. I just find it overly complicated in my already overcomplicated smart TVs.

A remote alone is plenty convenient for me

I have a stand alone Alexa which I like for timing eggs, the weather, and music. Or occasional trivia questions like, say, the population of New Zealand. Or metric conversions to our system. Actually, for a lazy but curious person like myself it is useful and I like it.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Yes, Alexa's listening, but so is your phone. It's really not frightening except to those of the conspiracy theory mindset. Amazon or Apple or Google cannot possibly afford to pay people to listen to our every conversation. It's just not possible. At worst it may serve you advertising based upon things you've talked about. That's all done with programming.

 

[Tom K]

Just in case, I like to say from time to time, "All hail Google!" You know, just to keep on their good side.

 

[Breakaway500]

Keep the keys to your car out of its reach..

 

[Maddog 521]

Onomea I will try this

Listening is crazy

What does the car keys have to do with it

 

[Onomea]

Maddog, the car keys comment by Breakaway is just a joke. He's just having a little fun, and making us laugh.

Not to worry!

 

[Maddog 521]

That had me wondering for sure. Ha

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

It works. It's magic. I like it.

 

[03hemi]

It works, keep in mind it's also recording every conversation it hears too.
You can log onto your Amazon account (supposedly) and go to your "recorded conversations" folder and delete, but you are being recorded to.
I have nothing Alexa in our house except for this in a concealed room which is my library/den.

 

[Heinz]

Firestick is a good system. As noted you can turn off the voice.

It is a lot cheaper that any of the satellite services. There is a lot free on Netflix and a lot of free movies on the channels with some advertising.

Ask it for "Jessie Stone" great fun.

 

[glowe]

Keep the keys to your car out of its reach..

What are car keys?

 

[somorris]

Our daughter got an Alexa dot and Firestick for us a few years ago. They do listen, but that can be a good thing. My wife has an inherited autoimmune disease, similar to muscular dystrophy. She is unable to pick up a phone, but she can have Alexa call 911 or our daughter (and others) simply by asking her to. Also, Alexa can control our TV like pausing, looking for Jesse Stone etc. and with smart plugs turn lights on and off. I like that part, but have noticed that if we talk about something, like a new washing machine, advertisements for washing machines start showing up on our social media accounts. I can put up with the listening to help keep my wife (or me for that matter) safer. If we have sensitive things to talk about, we go outside .

 

[blues7]

I've been using the Fire Stick for a few years. It works well for our usage.

 

[Pisgah]

You are right to be concerned. Just as cell phones aren't really telephones but tracking devices that use phone service to bait us in to using them, Alexa et al are 24-hour, 7-day-a-week monitors of whatever goes on within earshot.

There is only one solution if you do not like this absolute fact: don't use such devices and get rid of all that you have. Since I lived without any of them for the first 45 years of my life, I know it can be done...

 

[mtgianni]

Roku is an option that is remote only.

 

[WR Moore]

I really enjoyed a cartoon where the family was fleeing a home where Alexa and Siri were fighting for control.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I put blankets over my TV & computer screens when not in use. Keep the cell phone in a lead box when I go to bed. No Alexa here. When wife & I are talking we activate the "cone of silence."
I heard that Firestick is pretty good, but I'll stick with Dish Network. I know where all the channels are.

 

[Hair Trigger]

We have an Amazon Dot, which is probably what OP's daughter has linked to the Fire Stick. It can voice-control anything you have connected to wi-fi, from the TV to lights in the room. We don't use ours for anything other than it telling us we have an Amazon delivery, or asking it how to say something in Spanish (my wife is learning how to speak it).

Most TV's now have Fire, built into them, so you don't need to add it unless your TV was made before Fire (little joke there ). You can still continue to control it with the remote if you'd rather.

 

[Maddog 521]

I heard that the old Fire Stick's did not have the Alexa, listening capability. It seems it was about 18 that they started listening. I don't know if that's true or not. I understand what they're doing I don't why we let them. Convenience is always mentioned.