If we can’t trust Facebook now, what happens when they release their smart speaker?

Word is that Facebook is working on some smart speaker technology so it can compete with the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple. But with the world waking up to the fact that Facebook is free and easy with our personal data, should the company be trusted?

Call me paranoid, but there’s no way in hell I’d have a Facebook device in my house. The company has proven itself to be completely unreliable when it comes to keeping shit to itself.

And I’m not alone. A Reuters research study says that only 41% of American trust Facebook to follow privacy laws. Amazon, meanwhile, scored 66% and Google 62%.

Maybe, though, we should be thinking beyond just Facebook. After all, the tinfoil-hatted amongst us point out that the spread of smart speakers is akin to the citizenry voluntary bugging its most private spaces. What are/could these devices be picking up? We don’t really know, do we?

At the moment, I still love my Google Home and Mini speakers. But we need to remain vigilant about protecting ourselves against data breaches. Governments need to do the same.