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Alexa is always eavesdropping. (So are Siri, Google Assistant, and any other virtual assistant you invite into your home.)
Alexa公司总是在偷听。（苹果语音助手、谷歌语音助手和其他任何你邀请到家里的虚拟助理也一样。）
This is and isn’t as creepy as it sounds.
这其实并没有听起来那么恐怖。
Although it’s true that the device can hear everything you say within range of its microphones,
虽然这个设备确实能在其麦克风的范围内听到你说的所有话，
it is listening for its wake word before it starts recording.
它在听到唤醒词后才会开始录音。
Once it hears that—“Alexa” is the default, but there are other options—everything in the following few seconds
一旦它听到唤醒词——“Alexa”是默认的唤醒词，但是还有其他选择——在接下来几秒听到的任何话
is perceived to be a command or a request
都会被视作命令或请求，
and is sent to (and stored on) servers in the cloud, where the correct response is triggered.
然后会被发送到（并存储到）云端服务器，触发正确的响应。
Think of a smart speaker like a dog: It’s always listening,
把智能扬声器想象成一只狗：它总是在听，
but it understands only “cookie,” “walk,” or “Buddy.” Everything else goes right over its head.
但它只能理解“饼干”、“走路”或“伙计”。其他一切都超出了它的能力范围。
Every time Alexa hears a command, Amazon—its parent company—has just learned something about you.
每次Alexa听到一句指令，亚马逊——它的母公司——就会多一些对你的了解。
(Same with Apple and Google, if you use their speakers.) Maybe the company learned only that you like to listen to the Police,
（如果你使用苹果和谷歌的扬声器，情况也是如此。）也许公司只了解到你喜欢听警察的话，
or that you like fart jokes, or that you turn your lights off at 11 p.m. every night.
或者你喜欢放屁的笑话，或者你每天晚上11点关灯。
If you were to say “Alexa, where should I bury the body?” you’re not going to have the police showing up at your door.
如果你说“Alexa，我应该把尸体埋在哪里？”“这不会让警察出现在你的门前。
(I know because I’ve tried it.) Alexa does make mistakes.
(我知道，因为我试过了。)Alexa确实会犯错。
Sometimes this can be funny, such as when Alexa hears its wake word in a TV show.
有时候这很有趣，比如Alexa在电视节目中听到它的唤醒词。
Other times it’s more serious, including an instance in 2018
其他的时候就更加严肃了，包括2018年的一个事件，
when Alexa mistakenly sent an entire private conversation to a random person’s Echo device.
Alexa错误地将整个私人对话发送到任意一个人的回音设备。
Occasionally there are even humans listening to your request for weather reports
有时甚至有人会听到你的天气报告请求，
or trying to figure out what you meant when you added “mangosteens” to your shopping list.
或者试图弄清楚当你把“山竹果”添加到你的购物清单上是什么意思。
Sound intrusive? You likely already agreed to it in the app’s terms of use when you installed the device.
感觉受到侵扰了吗？当你安装该设备时，你很可能已经同意了应用程序的使用条款。
What bits of privacy are you willing to sacrifice for the convenience provided by a smart speaker?
为了智能音箱提供的便利，你愿意牺牲多少隐私呢？
If you trust that Amazon’s intentions are no more nefarious than getting a better idea of what you want to buy on Prime Day, then you have your answer.
如果你相信亚马逊的意图不比更好地了解你在亚马逊会员日想买什么更邪恶，那么你就有了答案。
If you worry about your private information falling into the hands of the wrong people, then you have another answer.
如果你担心你的私人信息落入错误的人手中，那么你还有另一个答案。
