Privacy Concerns
I bought the Sonos 5 to stream music period!. If I wanted a snooping, listening always on "assistant" I would have bought the Google Home or the Amazon Alexa. If I am forced to add this capability to my Sonos 5 with a mandatory "upgrade" I would rather brick the device and simply use it as a Powered Speaker...
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Userlevel 7
+26
Sonos has stated that they were put in possibly for room tuning, but they were never used, as the iPhone mic can be far more effective at this task, as it can be walked around the room.
I wanted to confirm this, the mics in the PLAY:5 gen2 were originally designed with room tuning and future use in mind. However, to this day, they are inactive. The PLAY:5 gen2 doesn't even know how to turn them on yet as they are entirely unutilized right now. For room tuning, we need to be able to "listen" where you are going to be sitting, as it's not so important to know what it sounds like at the speaker's location.
You'll be notified prior to any change in the status of the microphone, and we will ask for permission to activate them too.
I have a product development background. The mics were designed in for a long-term product goal. Sonos have not been totally quiet on their ambitions to compete with the likes of Google and Amazon. I am unhappy about the metadata and any potential backdoor application that could be pushed out to the Sonos 5.
Posted on SlashDot
"Sonos has confirmed that existing customers will not be given an option to opt out of its new privacy policy, leaving customers with sound systems that may eventually "cease to function". It comes as the home sound system maker prepares to begin collecting audio settings, error data, and other account data before the launch of its smart speaker integration in the near future. A spokesperson for the home sound system maker told ZDNet that, "if a customer chooses not to acknowledge the privacy statement, the customer will not be able to update the software on their Sonos system, and over time the functionality of the product will decrease. The customer can choose to acknowledge the policy, or can accept that over time their product may cease to function."
Posted on SlashDot
"Sonos has confirmed that existing customers will not be given an option to opt out of its new privacy policy, leaving customers with sound systems that may eventually "cease to function". It comes as the home sound system maker prepares to begin collecting audio settings, error data, and other account data before the launch of its smart speaker integration in the near future. A spokesperson for the home sound system maker told ZDNet that, "if a customer chooses not to acknowledge the privacy statement, the customer will not be able to update the software on their Sonos system, and over time the functionality of the product will decrease. The customer can choose to acknowledge the policy, or can accept that over time their product may cease to function."
Sonos has stated that they were put in possibly for room tuning, but they were never used, as the iPhone mic can be far more effective at this task, as it can be walked around the room.
You maybe correct, but the specs on the Sonos 5 do claim 2 microphones. Thoughts as to why?
Userlevel 4
+9
It doesn't, Trueplay is done with the microphone of an iDevice.
If you don't add a voice assistent to your set up there's no one listening in, if you think that that's what the privacy statement is implying you should read it again.
True.
In case you're not too bad at cutting wires just open the speaker and disconnect the mics. After all it's not rocket science.
You sir are a troll. Give me your ip address I have something I would like to give you.
Have you taped over all cameras and microphones and all your devices? You never know who is listening or looking.
That was true until the last pushed upgrade.
Save yourself some outrage and actually read the privacy policy. It clearly states that you have to enable the functionality for them to do anything other than Trueplay tuning with the mics.
Good point. I did read that they were not designed with far field recognition in mind but i guess they could pick a conversation.
For want of me sounding like an old person, in this day and age i'm beyond worrying about things like that. Computers, TVs, tablets all have "snooping" capabilites sometimes you just need to embrace them.
For want of me sounding like an old person, in this day and age i'm beyond worrying about things like that. Computers, TVs, tablets all have "snooping" capabilites sometimes you just need to embrace them.
The Sonos 5 has two built in microphones, it uses the microphones to determine optimal room equalisation. It is possible to use the microphones for other purposes as well.
I don't think it is capable if you don't have an "assistant" linked to your Sonos speaker. How will it listen or snoop on you?
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