FILE - This July 29, 2015, file photo made in New York shows Amazon's Echo, a digital assistant that continually listens for commands such as for a song, a sports score or the weather. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)
Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, allowed a user in Germany to get access to more than 1,000 recordings from another user — thanks to a “human error” by the tech giant, according to a report.
The unidentified user had asked the voice assistant to play back recordings of his own activities made by Alexa, and in doing so, he was able to get 1,700 audio files from a complete stranger after Amazon sent him a link, the German computer magazine c’t reported.
An Amazon spokesman said Thursday: “This unfortunate case was the result of a human error and an isolated single case.”
The person who received the stranger’s recordings claimed he initially got no reply from Amazon when the user informed the company that he was given the wrong files.
The audio files were then deleted from a link provided by Amazon, but the person had already downloaded them on a computer.
A man and woman could be overheard conversing on the recordings, according to c’t.
“We resolved the issue with the two customers involved and took measures to further optimize our processes. As a precautionary measure we contacted the relevant authorities,” the Amazon spokesman said.
With Post wires
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
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