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AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING THE death of an Arkansas man whose body was found in a hot tub want to expand the probe to include a new kind of evidence: any comments overheard by the suspect’s Amazon Echo smart speaker.
Amazon said it objects to “overbroad” requests as a matter of practice, but prosecutors insist their idea is rooted in a legal precedent that’s “as old as Methuselah.”
The issue has emerged in the slaying of Victor Collins, who was found floating face-up last year in the hot tub at a friend’s home in Bentonville, about 150 miles northwest of Little Rock. The friend, James Andrew Bates, was later charged with murder.
Prosecutors have asked the court to force Amazon to provide data from the Echo that could reveal more clues about the night of 22 November 2015, when Collins was apparently strangled and drowned.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said yesterday that he has no idea if the device recorded anything related to the death. But looking for clues is simply “a question of law enforcement doing their due diligence.”
Like any investigation, “law enforcement has an obligation to try to obtain evidence of the crime,” Smith said.
The device is a cylinder-shaped speaker with internet-connected microphones that debuted in late 2014. Similar to other gadgets, it listens for a user’s voice and responds to commands — to play music, read the morning headlines or add an upcoming event to a calendar, for instance.
The Echo can speak back to the user in a female voice known as ‘Alexa’.
The search warrant, signed by a judge in August, requests all “audio recordings, transcribed records, text records and other data” from Bates’ Echo speaker.
So far, authorities have obtained only basic subscriber and account information. Smith said that his office has had discussions with Amazon, but that the bulk of the request remains unfulfilled.
The prosecution’s request was first reported this week by The Information, a news site that covers the technology industry.
Amazon spokeswoman Kinley Pearsall declined to comment specifically on the Arkansas case but said in a statement that the company:
will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand.
Amazon, Pearsall added, objects to “overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.”
On its website, the company says the Echo streams audio to cloud-based storage after it detects the user’s “wake word,” and that it stops recording once a question or request has been processed.
Smith compared his request to routine warrants that seek a record of cellphone “pings,” which can be used to track a user’s location.
“It is a search warrant for a new device, but the legal concept is old as Methuselah,” he said.
The Arkansas slaying could be a test case for how evidence rules apply to information from home appliances connected to the internet such as water meters, thermostats and lighting systems.
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The answer to question 10 is clearly wrong!
Fried potatoes?
@John Mulligan: 10/11 because I said chips
@John Mulligan: I agree. Everyone knows roasted is the best.
@John Mulligan: maybe the author was fired writing this :)
@pethelhug: absolutely its roasted
Mashed Boiled or roasted.
@Shane Cormac O’Duibhleachain: all 3 ?
Are you serious? The country might be going to Level 5 and you want to talk about potatoes?!
@Angela Jones: Christ— lighten up!
@Angela Jones: it’s nice to have a lighthearted quiz to be honest.
@Angela Jones: Yes, they should have tried to make this quiz more current. Such as how many potatoes are eaten during a typical day in lock down. Very lazy journalism.
@Angela Jones: Anna Anna likes spuds
@Angela Jones: the country is going to level 5 and you have time to write on this complaining.
@Angela Jones: Sorry Angela, but not all of us want to be reading doom and gloom all the time. You continue being petrified & leave the rest of us alone. You’re some craic at a party I’d say, remind me to send you an invite to mine when it comes around.
It doesn’t sit right with me that this quiz makes light of the Famine.
@Ciara Devine: too soon?
You scored 10 out of 11!
You are a potato and I love you.
Fried potato what are you smoking?
There should be an all of the above except raw option on the last question.
This is the second, maybe third one of these you’ve attempted to share in the last 4-6 weeks.
Are chips and fried potatoes different?
Absolutely disgraceful to mention the famine in this way. Sick.
@Red Pirate 71: why?
Pee off Nicky!
Why is fried the best way to serve potatoes? Boiled is healthier and leftover boiled potatoes can be made into potato salad.
I like potatoes fried but you have to boil them first.
have your say