FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, an Amazon Echo device sits on a balcony outside an Amazon office as the Space Needle is reflected in windows behind it following a program announcing several new Amazon products by the company, in Seattle. Amazon says an "unlikely" string of events prompted its Echo personal assistant device to record a Portland, Ore., family's private conversation and then send the recording to an acquaintance in Seattle.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
May 24, 2018 - 8:00 PM
SEATTLE - Amazon says an "unlikely" string of events prompted its Echo personal assistant device to record a Portland, Oregon, family's private conversation and then send the recording to an acquaintance in Seattle.
The woman told KIRO-TV that two weeks ago an employee of her husband contacted them to say he thought their device had been hacked. He told them he had received an audio file of them discussing hardwood floors.
In a statement Thursday, Amazon confirmed the woman's private conversation had been inadvertently recorded and sent.
It says the device interpreted a word in the background conversation as "Alexa" — a command that makes the machine wake up — and then it interpreted the conversation as a "send message" request.
The company says it is "evaluating options to make this case even less likely."
News from © The Associated Press, 2018