© EricPetersAuto
Her outsized image isn't plastered to every telephone pole and billboard, all-seeing eyes watching your every move.
But her ears are always open - and increasingly, everywhere.
In the kitchens.
In TVs.
In a large and
growing number of new cars, including almost all Audis, several Toyota/Lexus models, most new Cadillacs and Chevys, Lincolns, Chryslers and the just-redesigned 2022 Acura MDX I'm test driving this week.
You can't
see her, but she can
hear you.
Like so many things electronic, in-car Alexa is marketed as a
convenience. You can ask her about the weather, how many feet in a meter - almost anything - and without taking your hands off the wheel.
But she's also something else.
Just as your smartphone conveniently lets you snap cute pictures and send them to friends - and then sends data about where and when you took that cute picture and quite possibly that cute picture itself to Google or Apple - so also Alexa, the disembodied voice of Amazon - conveniently answers your questions while taking note of what you asked.
And not just that.
We are assured that what we ask Alexa is anonymized - and that what Alexa hears us say is dependent upon our giving her permission to listen.
Such assurances should be taken with the same confidence a woman might accept a cocktail from Bill Cosby.
Comment: More information is surfacing on this cyber attack and extortion ploy:
Update 5/7/2021: Upwards of 1500 companies affected by ransomware attack that targeted software firm Kaseya: See also: