On October 8, 2018, Facebook announced Portal, a new smart device activated by voice with a smart hands-free display. Some think it is a device to spy on people and do business with the data that is collected. What is true?
Portal is a tablet with a camcorder that automatically frames with zoom to keep the user focused without even asking for it, it carries a microphone and a speaker and therefore it is used for messages and video chat, Facebook expects users to leave it always on and linked to the smartphone of the home.
“The intelligent camera automatically frames and zooms to keep everyone in sight with the Alexa assistant”, described Facebook when making the announcement, Alexa is a program used by various companies, which answers user questions, based on the data that has been collected from the person.
Portal could then do more than it seems, and Facebook acknowledged days after the launch that its system potentially collects all kinds of personal information in the same way it does when operating Messanger.
However, Recode warned in its report on October 16, that Facebook now says that although Portal will not offer ads, “the data about who he calls and the data about the applications he uses in the Portal can be used to guide him with advertisements in other Facebook properties. ”
Based on this confirmation, you can think that the greatest interest of Facebook when putting the Portal application and make it turn on all the time, is to collect hundreds of data for your business and targeting. The fact that Portal will not put ads on the tablet created the wrong idea.
The company Amazon and Google also use voice-operated loudspeakers as possible data collection devices. For example, Amazon’s Echo system used a camera to analyze people’s outfits and used that information to suggest what clothes to buy, notes TheTechHacker.
If one asks the Alexa program, which is also included in the Portal, it responds to some things and does so based on the data collected from the person who is using the equipment.