Amazon Fire TV
Review date: 11/02/2020
If you are a lover of all things Amazon Prime--video, music, free shipping--these could be the streaming sticks for you. Stream your Prime video and audio as well as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more. Alexa controls everything by voice while ordering you a pizza for that binge-watching session. Here's to taking couch potato to the next level.
What could happen if something goes wrong
It's Amazon, so you know they are probably tracking your every move and Alexa request to try and sell you more stuff. So, they could learn all the shows you like to watch and start targeting you with ads for all the product placement products in those TV shows. Those Reeses Cup ads won't go away no matter how hard you try, completely ruining your diet. Now you'll never lose weight! And if you want Amazon to stop trying to sell you more stuff, the only way to be absolutely sure all your data is deleted is to delete your Amazon account completely. Good luck with that!
Privacy
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: No
App: No
Microphone
Device: Yes
App: Yes
Tracks Location
Device: Yes
App: Yes
What is required to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third party account
No
What data does it collect?
Personal
Name, email, phone number, address
Biometric
Voice recordings
Social
How does it use this data?
What is the company’s known track record for protecting users’ data?
In October, 2020, Amazon fired an employee for leaking customer email addresses to an unnamed third party. In November, 2018, Amazon suffered a data breach that caused customer names and email addresses to be disclosed on its webpage.
Can this product be used offline?
User friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Security
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
Uses encryption in transit and at rest.
Strong password
Security updates
Manages vulnerabilities
Amazon has a bug bounty program, which means that anyone who finds a security issue and discloses it responsibly may get paid. https://hackerone.com/amazonvrp Security researchers can report a vulnerability here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909140
Privacy policy
Artificial Intelligence
Does the product use AI?
Does the AI use your personal data to make decisions about you?
Does the company allow users to see how the AI works?
Amazon Alexa utilizes AI and natural language understanding (NLU) to understand what people are saying and to respond to requests. More information can be found at the Alexa FAQ and the Amazon Science webpage.
