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Busted: Thousands Of Amazon Employees Listening To Alexa Conversations

Amazon employs thousands of people to listen in on what people around the world are saying to their Alexa digital assistant, according to what is sure to be a Congressional hearing-inspiring report by Bloomberg, which cites seven people who have worked on the program. 

While their job is to “help improve” NSAlexa – which powers the company’s line of Echo speakers – the team “listens to voice recordings captured in Echo owners’ homes and offices,” which are then transcribed, annotated and fed back into the software in order to try and improve Alexa’s understanding of human speech for more successful interactions. In other words, humans are effectively helping to train Amazon’s algorithm.

In marketing materials Amazon says Alexa “lives in the cloud and is always getting smarter.” But like many software tools built to learn from experience, humans are doing some of the teaching. -Bloomberg

The listening team is comprised of part-time contractors and full-time Amazon employees based all over the world; including India, Romania, Boston and Costa Rica.

Listeners work nine hour shifts, with each reviewing as many as 1,000 audio clips per shift according to two employees from Amazon’s Bucharest office – located in the top three floors of the Romanian capital’s Globalworth building. The location “stands out amid the crumbling infrastructure” of the Pipera district and “bears no exterior sign advertising Amazon’s presence.”


Alex Jones goes on Logan Paul’s podcast “ImPaulsive”

While much of the work is boring (one worker said his job was to mine for accumulated voice data for specific phrases such as “Taylor Swift” – letting the system know that the searcher was looking for the artist), reviewers are also listening on people’s most personal moments.

Occasionally the listeners pick up things Echo owners likely would rather stay private: a woman singing badly off key in the shower, say, or a child screaming for help. The teams use internal chat rooms to share files when they need help parsing a muddled word—or come across an amusing recording. -Bloomberg

Occasionally Amazon listeners come across upsetting or possibly criminal recordings – such as two workers who say they listened in on what sounded like a sexual assault. 

According to the report, when things like this happen the workers will mention it in the internal chat room to “relieve stress.”

And while Amazon says that it has procedures to follow when workers hear distressing things, two of the Romania-based employees say they were told “it wasn’t Amazon’s job to interfere” when they requested guidance for such instances.

“We take the security and privacy of our customers’ personal information seriously,” said an Amazon spokesman in a statement provided to Bloomberg.

“We only annotate an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings in order improve the customer experience. For example, this information helps us train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems, so Alexa can better understand your requests, and ensure the service works well for everyone,” the statement continues. “We have strict technical and operational safeguards, and have a zero tolerance policy for the abuse of our system. Employees do not have direct access to information that can identify the person or account as part of this workflow. All information is treated with high confidentiality and we use multi-factor authentication to restrict access, service encryption and audits of our control environment to protect it.”

That said, Amazon does not mention the fact that humans are listening to recordings of some of the conversations picked up by Alexa. Instead, they have a generic disclaimer in their FAQ that says “We use your requests to Alexa to train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems.”

What Amazon records

According to Amazon’s Alexa terms of use, the company collects and stores most of what you say to Alexa – including the geolocation of the product along with your voice instructions, reported CNBCTodd Haselton last November.

Your messages, communication requests (e.g., “Alexa, call Mom”), and related instructions are “Alexa interactions,” as described in the Alexa Terms of Use. Amazon processes and retains your Alexa Interactions and related information in the cloud in order to respond to your requests (e.g., “Send a message to Mom”), to provide additional functionality (e.g., speech to text transcription and vice versa), and to improve our services. -Amazon Terms of Use

Last May, an Amazon Echo recorded a conversation between a husband and wife, then sent it to one of the husband’s phone contacts. Amazon claims that during the conversation someone used a word that sounded like “Alexa,” which caused the device to begin recording.

“Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like ‘Alexa,’” said Amazon in a statement. “Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a ‘send message’ request. At which point, Alexa said out loud ‘To whom?’ At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customer’s contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, ‘[contact name], right?’ Alexa then interpreted background conversation as ‘right’. As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.”

The wife, Danielle, however said that the Echo never requested her permission to send the audio. “At first, my husband was like, ‘No, you didn’t,’” Danielle told KIRO7. “And he’s like, ‘You sat there talking about hardwood floors.’ And we said, ‘Oh gosh, you really did!’”

Can you disable?

Alexa does allow people to stop sharing their voice recordings for the development of new features, while a screenshot reviewed by Bloomberg reveals that the recordings provided to Alexa’s listeners do not provide the full name or address of a user. It does, however, link the recording to an account number, the user’s first name, and the device’s serial number.

“You don’t necessarily think of another human listening to what you’re telling your smart speaker in the intimacy of your home,” said UMich professor Florian Schaub, who has researched privacy issues related to smart speakers. “I think we’ve been conditioned to the [assumption] that these machines are just doing magic machine learning. But the fact is there is still manual processing involved.

“Whether that’s a privacy concern or not depends on how cautious Amazon and other companies are in what type of information they have manually annotated, and how they present that information to someone,” added Schaub.

Source: InfoWars

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Employee charged with assault in Texas plant explosion

Another senior employee at a chemical company is facing criminal charges connected to a 2017 explosion at a Houston-area plant following Hurricane Harvey.

The Harris County District Attorney's office announced Wednesday that Arkema vice president of logistics Michael Keough has been indicted for felony assault.

District Attorney Kim Ogg says Keough falsely told officials that Arkema was monitoring potentially explosive chemical tanks in real time when the company had insufficient data to give early warning. Ogg says these "misrepresentations" led sheriff's deputies to drive directly into a toxic cloud, which then spread to expose citizens of Crosby, outside Houston.

A lawyer for Keough says his actions are not a crime and called the indictment "absurd" and "beyond rational thought."

Arkema and two other senior employees were charged last year.

Source: Fox News National

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Erotic Dancer Defends Photo of Child Stuffing Money in G-String

A photo of a child stuffing money in a burlesque performer’s G-string sparked outrage this week, causing the entertainer to delete her post.

But instead of apologizing for the shocking nature of the picture, the stripper doubled down, defending her right to sexualize children.

The incident began this week when New Orleans-based burlesque dancer Bella Blue posted the photo to Facebook with a caption reading: “This little girl was at brunch a few weeks ago and her family was encouraging her to tip and engage with me. It’s always so refreshing to see families actively destigmatizing and changing narratives around bodies and sexuality.”

The post continued:

“At the end, her mom (who’s back there taking pics!) came up to me and said ‘thank you for showing her that being a strong woman is ok.’ And I told her ‘No, no. Thank YOU for exposing her to burlesque and for encouraging her to experience it.’”

By Wednesday, Bella had deleted the post claiming it was causing “hate” and “division” which she thought would be better directed toward “our administration or racism or equal rights.”

According to Pluralist.com, she added she had no problem with children interacting with strippers if it’s done “in an environment that is suited for them.”

“I still think it’s ok for children to see burlesque in an environment that is suited for them,” Bella reportedly wrote in subsequent posts which have also been deleted. “I still think that the family bringing this child and encouraging her to tip destigmatizes everything we grow up learning about bodies.”

Critics online condemned the photo, which essentially depicts a child’s loss of innocence.

“I’m ready for the cleansing fire,” wrote blogger and author Roosh V.

Others on Twitter agreed with the sentiment:


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adan.salazar.735

Source: InfoWars

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German motor authority probes more Mercedes emissions software: Bild

The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin,
The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

April 14, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s motor vehicle authority KBA is investigating Daimler on suspicion that 60,000 Mercedes cars were fitted with software aimed at tricking emissions tests, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday.

A spokesman for Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, said the carmaker was reviewing the facts and fully cooperating with the KBA.

Bild am Sonntag said the KBA was looking into suspicious software in Mercedes-Benz GLK 220 CDI cars produced between 2012 and 2015, after tests showed they only meet emissions limits when a certain function is activated.

Since rival Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating U.S. emissions tests, the scandal has spread to other carmakers. Daimler has ordered the recall of 3 million vehicles to fix excess emissions coming from their diesel engines.

Bild am Sonntag said the KBA found that the function it had discovered had been removed during software updates carried out by Daimler.

The Daimler spokesman said the company had complied with a process agreed upon with the KBA and German Transport Ministry when updating software for the 3 million recalled vehicles.

“The allegation that we wanted to hide something with the voluntary service measure is incorrect,” he said.

This month European Union antitrust regulators charged BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen with colluding to block the rollout of emissions-cleaning technology.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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Demonstrators reported arrested, wounded in Nicaragua

An opposition group says Nicaraguan police have arrested anti-government demonstrators and says three were wounded by gunfire just a day after official negotiators promised to release people detained in earlier protests.

The National White and Blue Union says riot police arrested 10 demonstrators at a shopping center and that at least three people were wounded by gunfire aimed at protesters Saturday. It says another protester was arrested in the city of Leon.

A day earlier, negotiators for President Daniel Ortega signed agreements ratifying commitments to release and drop charges against hundreds of people considered political prisoners by the opposition. They also promised freedom to demonstrate.

The opposition says more than 640 people are being held for political causes, jailed in protests that broke out in April against Ortega's government.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump Honors the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day: CNN and Liberal Media Complain about a Tweet Instead!

Trump Honors the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day: CNN and Liberal Media Complain about a Tweet Instead! Seems Trump Also Tweeted about it today but a lot of people had something to say about it Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at […]

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Cuban president calls for strengthened defenses, economy in response to Trump threats

FILE PHOTO: Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel talks to Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Government Office in Hanoi, Vietnam
FILE PHOTO: Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel talks to Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (not pictured) at the Government Office in Hanoi, Vietnam, November 9, 2018. Luong Thai Linh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

April 13, 2019

By Marc Frank

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel accused the Trump administration on Saturday of dragging relations with the United States to their worst level in decades and called on Cubans to strengthen the Communist-run country’s defenses and economy.

Diaz-Canel, in a speech closing the National Assembly, said the United States is engaging in an “asphyxiating financial persecution that makes the import of goods and resources of primary necessity particularly difficult.”

The Cuban economy has stagnated in recent years in tandem with the implosion of strategic ally Venezuela, resulting in cuts in fuel and energy use by state entities and this year shortages of basic goods such as bread, chicken and eggs.

An increase in U.S. sanctions under President Donald Trump is also making it even harder for cash-strapped Cuba to get credit from financial institutions.

Cuba’s Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Fernandez earlier in the day called on the government to tighten belts further and seek alternatives to imports, as foreign exchange earnings decline and credit for supplies and investment become more difficult to find.

“Exports are not growing as planned. The levels of foreign investment that the economy demands are not materializing,” Gil said. “We can forecast the import plan will not be fulfilled because the credits we need cannot be finalized due to the arrears of payments of debts.”

Cuba relies on imports directly or indirectly for much of what it produces and consumes, including fuel and food, and purchases the supplies with foreign currency it earns from exports and obtains through credits.

The government has been struggling to keep economic growth in the black and forecast a 1.5 percent increase in gross domestic product this year after a 1.2 percent increase last year.

The Trump administration has said Cuba is responsible for the survival of socialist Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and slapped new sanctions on Cuba, which is already under a crippling trade embargo, leaving the detente of former president Barack Obama in the dust.

This month the United States sanctioned vessels and companies that ship oil to Cuba from Venezuela in exchange for health and other technical services, threatening the energy grid and transportation.

The Trump administration says it soon may activate a long dormant law under which Cuban-Americans could sue foreign companies that profit from their properties nationalized during the first years of the 1959 Revolution.

“Our response is no, imperialist gentlemen, we Cubans do not surrender,” Diaz-Canel said on Saturday, adding the situation meant “we have two absolute priorities: the preparation of our defense and the economic battle at the same time.”

According to western diplomats and businessmen, Cuba has failed to pay suppliers on time for a number of years, piling up around $1.5 billion in short term debt.

Trade fell around 25 percent from 2013 through 2017 and declined again last year, according to the government.

In addition to the Venezuelan crisis, the advent of a far-right government in Brazil led last year to the scrapping of a doctors-for-cash deal valued at an annual $300 million.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; editing by Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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Alex Jones – Info Wars

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FILE PHOTO: Chevron's Michael Wirth speaks at Gastech, the world's biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba
FILE PHOTO: Chevron’s Michael Wirth speaks at Gastech, the world’s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

April 26, 2019

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Chevron Corp on Friday pushed back at the potential for a rival to break up its $33 billion deal for Anadarko Petroleum Corp, saying the two companies had already begun meetings on a merger plan.

Occidental Petroleum on Thursday sought to scuttle the proposed deal, submitting a higher, $38 billion cash-and-stock offer for Anadarko. Anadarko’s board said on Thursday it would evaluate the new proposal.

“I’ll just remind everyone that we’ve got a signed deal that has been approved by both boards and we’ve moving forward with integration planning,” said Chevron Chief Executive Michael Wirth on a conference call with analysts. He said a “sizeable” group of employees had already met.

Wirth declined to say whether Chevron would raise its offer in light of Occidental’s higher bid. Chevron has the ability revise the structure of its 75 percent stock, 25 percent cash bid, Chevron finance chief Pierre Breber said on the same call. “We could put more cash in if that’s what Anadarko wanted to do,” he said.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Naqvi Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos
FILE PHOTO: Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday.

Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, Sev Vettivetpillai, was released on conditional bail to appear again at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 12, the official said.

Under the U.S. charges, both men are accused of defrauding U.S. investors by inflating positions held by Abraaj in order to attract greater funds from them, causing them financial loss, the official said.

Vettivetpillai could not be reached for a comment.

Naqvi, in a statement released through a PR firm, has pleaded innocent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Naqvi and his firm raised money for the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund, collecting more than $100 million over three years from U.S.-based charitable organizations and other U.S. investors.

Naqvi and Vettivetpillai were arrested in Britain earlier this month. Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on April 11.

Abdel-Wadood appeared at the Manhattan hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his 2020 candidacy
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in this still image taken from a video released April 25, 2019. BIDEN CAMPAIGN HANDOUT via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his first interview as a Democratic presidential candidate, said on Friday that he does not believe he treated law professor Anita Hill badly during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden had joined the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field a day earlier.

Biden’s conduct during those hearings, when he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, became a renewed subject of controversy after the New York Times reported that Biden had called Hill earlier this month in the run-up to his presidential bid and that Hill was dissatisfied with Biden’s expression of regret.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Biden largely defended his actions as a senator almost 30 years ago, saying he believed Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment levied at Thomas and tried to derail his confirmation.

Activists have long been unhappy that Hill was questioned in graphic detail by the all-white, all-male committee chaired by Biden.

“I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said, but later, he asserted, “I don’t think I treated her badly. … How do you stop people from asking inflammatory questions?”

“There were a lot of mistakes made across the board and for those I apologize,” he said.

Biden praised Hill as “remarkable” and said she is “one of the reasons we have the #MeToo movement.”

Asked why he had not reached out to Hill earlier, Biden said he had previously publicly stated he had regrets about her treatment and that he “didn’t want to quote invade her space.”

That seemed to be a reference to another controversy that looms over Biden’s presidential run: allegations by several women that he made them uncomfortable by touching them at political events.

Biden also addressed that criticism, saying he was now more “cognizant” about a woman’s “private space.” But he maintained that he had been “trying to bring solace.”

He suggested he was still trying to sort out the guidelines for his conduct going forward.

“I should be able to read better,” he said. “I have to be more careful.”

Pressed by the show’s panel for an apology to his accusers, Biden would not entirely capitulate.

“So, I invaded your space,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sorry this happened. But I’m not sorry in a sense that I think I did anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate.”

Biden, 76, served as former President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms. He is competing with 19 others for the Democratic presidential nomination and the chance to likely face President Donald Trump next year in the general election.

His first public event as a presidential candidate is scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s stock slumped over 4% on Friday to its lowest price in two years, rounding out a rough week that included worse-than-expected quarterly results and a pitch by Chief Executive Elon Musk on autonomous cars that failed to win over investors.

With investors betting Tesla will soon raise capital, the stock has fallen 13% for the week to its lowest level since January 2017, before the launch of the Model 3 sedan aimed at making the electric car maker profitable.

One positive development for Tesla: a U.S. District Court judge on Friday granted a request by Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission for a second extension to resolve a dispute over Musk’s use of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Tesla posted a worse-than-expected loss of $702 million for the March quarter. Musk said Tesla would return to profit in the third quarter and that there was “some merit” to raising capital.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the company’s first car aimed at the mass consumer market, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently to customers around the world.

Tesla ended its first quarter with $2.2 billion, down from $3.7 billion in the prior quarter, and the company is planning expansions including a Shanghai factory, an upcoming Model Y SUV, and other projects.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s cash – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DyJjX6)

On Monday, Musk hosted a self-driving event, where he predicted Tesla would have over a million autonomous vehicles by next year. Some analysts perceived the presentation as a way to deflect attention from questions about demand, margin pressure, increasing competition and even Musk’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.

Tesla’s stock has now fallen 29 percent in 2019 and the company’s market capitalization has declined to $41 billion from $63 billion in mid-December.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s declining market cap – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dwd62r)

Analysts now expect Tesla’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, compared with 83% growth in 2018 and 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.

Following Tesla’s quarterly report, 12 analysts recommend selling the stock, while 11 recommend buying and eight are neutral. The median analyst price target is $275, up 16% from the stock’s current price of $236. Berenberg analyst Alexander Haissl has the most optimistic price target, at $500, while Cowen and Company’s Jeffrey Osborne has the lowest, at $160, according to Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Former CIA Director John Brennan pushed back Friday on President Trump’s charge that he knew about or participated in an attempt to overthrow the American government.

“I don’t think it’s surprising at all that we continue to hear the sociopathic ramblings of Mr. Trump claiming that there was this effort to try to prevent him from being elected or to unseat him,” he told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson.

Brennan was reacting to comments Trump made during an interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday night.

Trump specifically criticized Brennan, along with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey, and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, in the fiery interview.

ROSENSTEIN SLAMS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR CHOOSING ‘NOT TO PUBLICIZE FULL STORY’ OF RUSSIA HACKING

His comments followed the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s report which stopped short of accusing the president of either obstruction of justice or collusion with Russia.

Brennan added he welcomed further investigation into his and other officials’ conduct while they served in government. “I’ve testified in front of Congress … Absolutely, I’ll do it again,” he said.

Brennan also disputed Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., claim that he “insisted that the unverified and fake Steele dossier be included in the Intelligence Report.”

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Journalist Bob Woodward similarly promoted the idea that the CIA pushed to include the Steele dossier in the intelligence community assessment surrounding Russian election interference.

“That’s absolutely incorrect and 180 degrees from the truth. It was CIA that was pushing not to have it included and not to be taken into account at all in that intelligence community assessment.

Source: Fox News Politics

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