Electronic surveillance

 

Worried Alexa is spying on you? Edward Snowden’s head can help

The hardest thing about creating a scale model of Edward Snowden’s head is getting the glasses right. This is Echo Chamber – a life-size replica of the NSA whistleblower’s head with a copper cylinder hidden inside. It’s designed to sit over a home voice assistant, such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home, and block it from hearing you and connecting to the internet.

May Safwat – an artist and filmmaker, and a lecturer at the Kingston School of Art – came up with the idea after having conversations with friends and family members who were convinced their smart speakers were listening to them, even if they hadn’t said one of the wake words (like “Alexa” or “OK, Google”). She came up with the idea of creating a physical object that could help give them a sense of control. After that, Snowden was the obvious choice.

“I see him as the saint of privacy,” she says. In 2013, Snowden famously leaked thousands of documents which revealed the extent of state surveillance by the NSA and other security bodies – an action that forced him into exile. “You know you’re safe because Snowden’s got your back.” But, since then – and despite his warnings – we’ve embraced smart devices which routinely listen in and track our movements.