AI assistants collect data from users and their contacts
The Verge: Friends don’t let friends feed their data to AI agents
There's a growing trend in the consumer tech world: gadgets designed to spy on everything and everyone around you, regardless of whether or not anyone else actually consented to it. Now, with the advent of "AI personal assistants" like Meta's Muse, you're being cheerfully asked not just to give up your own data, but also the information of your friends, family, the person you went on a Hinge date with five years ago - and virtually anyone else you've ever come in contact with.
Get smart on it
AI personal assistants designed to automate everyday tasks are being released to consumers with permission systems that grant access to highly sensitive data including bank accounts, passwords, contacts, and chat logs. These systems collect and build detailed profiles not only of the person who installs them, but also of everyone that person communicates with, based on emails, messages, contacts, and photos. The concern is that users often do not realize how much data they are sharing or understand the consequences of their choices, and there is no meaningful way for people whose data is collected to opt out, even if they never consented to the system. Privacy experts argue that the user interface design encourages maximum data sharing through confusing consent systems, placing an unfair burden on consumers to understand complex technology while the companies that built it claim they do not fully understand how their own systems work.
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