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Brian Chapman
Contributor I
October 26, 2017

Products without Alexa to continue? HOPE SO.

  • October 26, 2017
  • 19 replies
  • 4417 views
I sincerely hope there will continue to be Sonos products WITHOUT Alexa in the future. There is plenty of backlash over Alexa listening in on home environments, and concerns over privacy. Personally, I have experienced interacting with it, and do not care for it at all. My in-laws have Alexa, and it invariably results in multiple people yelling "ALEXA!! Do this! Do that!" It's super annoying, and I don't like the privacy invasion for my own home. When I saw that Sonos now has an Alexa product, I got worried.:(
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    19 replies

    jgatie
    jgatie
    October 26, 2017
    Not only is the Play:1 being sold concurrently with the Sonos One, the Alexa (or any voice control) features are 100% voluntary and require you to enable the features on the device before they work. Not only that, there is a hardware switch to turn off the microphones, and the microphones are hardwired to an LED so there is no way for it to listen in without the owner knowing, even on the oft chance someone hacks the device.
    Diceman
    Enthusiast II
    October 26, 2017
    My system has just been disabled by the latest Sonos Update. They are robbers and thieves.
    jgatie
    jgatie
    October 26, 2017
    My system has just been disabled by the latest Sonos Update. They are robbers and thieves.

    I highly doubt it has been disabled. Maybe you can reel it back in a bit and we can help you get running again. Better yet, start your own thread so we do not hijack the OP's earnest questions with an off-topic conversation.
    Dave
    Dave
    Headliner II
    October 26, 2017
    @Brian Chapman

    I agree, last night I asked Alexa how to make bom boms "sweets" and MI5 and HomeLand were banging my door down half an hour later, luckily I had earlier set a timer on Alexa to self implode the house so they never found me. :8
    Sonos Boost - PlayBar with Surround Sound Play 1's (Living Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Dining Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Kitchen) - Amp with two Canton 845 ceiling speakers (Bathroom) - Sonos Move - HomePod Mini x1
      Ryan S
      Ryan S
      Retired Sonos Staff
      October 26, 2017
      My system has just been disabled by the latest Sonos Update.
      Hi Diceman, I just reached out in one of your other threads. Let's continue there to look into what's going on.
      Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
      L. Vis
      Contributor II
      February 14, 2018
      Dear Sonos: Please continue to offer versions of your speakers without Alexa or any other voice-control technology. The privacy issues with the IOT are huge.
        upstatemike
        February 14, 2018
        Dear Sonos: Please continue to offer versions of your speakers without Alexa or any other voice-control technology. The privacy issues with the IOT are huge. That is ridiculous. Nobody is going to use the Alexa microphones in in a Sonos player to spy on you. That is what the special stealth microphone in the Play5 Gen2 is for!
        Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
        MikeV
        MikeV
        February 14, 2018
        There is no requirement that you have to activate a voice service to use the Sonos One. So don't activate Alexa (or whatever future options may be available) and the microphone won't be on. It's that easy. 🙂
        The S in IOT stands for Security.
        L. Vis
        Contributor II
        February 14, 2018
        Okay, I hope you're right. It's been reported that the Amazon Echo is constantly sending data back to Amazon, even when the microphone is off. See https://gizmodo.com/the-house-that-spied-on-me-1822429852

        "An exaggerated version of this was seen in the Echo and Echo Dot, which were in constant communication with Amazon’s servers, sending a request every couple of minutes to http://spectrum.s3.amazonaws.com/kindle-wifi/wifistub-echo.html. Even without the “Alexa” wake word, and even when the microphone is turned off, the Echo is frequently checking in with Amazon, confirming it is online and looking for updates. Amazon did not respond to an inquiry about why the Echo talks to Amazon’s servers so much more frequently than other connected devices."
        Airgetlam
        Airgetlam
        February 14, 2018
        There's a physical switch on the back of the Sonos One that allows you to turn off the microphone manually. It's mechanically connected to an LED that gives you an indication as to whether it is on or not. That LED can not be turned off in software, but only by toggling the physical switch.

        But as MikeV suggests, never connecting it to any service would keep it from sending data as well.
        Bruce
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