Ratted out by Alexa

[SaraLin]

Yesterday, I noticed that I had an announcement on my Alexa and (stupid me) I played it with my wife sitting there.
Loud and clear, it announces that my Amazon order of a womens' belt had been delayed.:eek::eek:
fortunately, she either didn't hear it, or she's pretending she didn't, because I didn't get any grief from her.


FYI - she knows about me, but doesn't want anything beyond (a limited selection of ) nighties and panties. Me ordering a ladies' belt would be outside her comfort zone.

[Crissy 107]

Ouch, that can really cause issues with those of us in a DADT marriage. I do think my wife would have ignored it for the most part.
A couple of months ago my wife was looking at the Sam’s club credit card bill and saw, I believe, that I had bought a pair of pantyhose at Walmart. She just mentioned how everything we purchase is listed on the bill under each transaction.

[alwayshave]

Sara, I have had this issue as I have adult children in my home. When I order something I don't want popping up on my Echo Show, I archive the order. As such, it is not reported by Alexa.

[CharlotteCD]

I think I mentioned, or at least intended to mention, that I had a similar issue. My Alexa had a yellow ring, and my wife had no idea what it meant. I didn't either.

It told me that I'd had a refund for the ladies shoes I had recently ordered but returned, and fortunately I did it away from her presence.

I think I've turned the notifications off for shopping now. It's just yet another risk..

[Robbiegirl]

OMG ! Yes thank god my wife was out of town !

Alexa loudly announced that I had bought a package of Hanes French cut Nylon Panties and wanted me to rate them ! LOL
Try and explain that one !

[Deborah G]

I understand that Amazon is concerned about customer service, but the messages about delivery of and leaving a survey about satisfaction with shoes, clothes, lingerie, can be a bit over done!

[PaulaJeanette]

This kind of unfortunate missteps, basically gotchas, is one of the reasons I refuse to have devices or utilize technologies, such as Alexa or Siri, in my home. Call it paranoia or whatever, but the potential for these technologies always being in the "listening" or "seeing" mode is not acceptable.

[kimdl93]

The wonders of technology.

[Linda Stockings]

I shudder to think of what it will be like when they incorporate all of their wanton invasiveness with artificial intelligence. And the almighty dollar will buy out the companies that are not already on board. YIKES!

[Deborah G]

The problem is anymore that AI follows whatever you search on and then you receive emails, texts, etc. with similar content on your computer or smart phone! I even have pop-up on my work computer about heels and lingerie! I assuming this is based from my real name, as I do not use common ID's on any of my devices.

[Linda Stockings]

It's been that way for years, Deborah. Many years ago I was taken aback after visiting a local shopping mall. The location access system had "followed" me, and on that very day I received countless messages from EACH of the stores I had simply WALKED BY! I've since turned off the location access on my smartphone. But I found that once they had my location, they KEEP LOCATING. Seems like we can't really stop them. Not entirely.

[jjjjohanne]

I don't use a Google account. I use a specific browser for crossdressing stuff, and I clear the cache/history/etc. every time. I never search for or do anything crossdressing related on my phone. I never buy crossdressing stuff on the Internet. That's my security strategy. Often I get commercials served to me that reveal that they don't know anything about me. (Or I am unknowingly a woman with incontinence issues.)

[Davina2833]

Crissy,

Cash is king (or queen)!

Davina

[Crissy 107]

We have never had Alexa in our home which is fine by me, with AI being in the news things will not get better only worse.
Davina, I agree about cash

[SaraLin]

I think I've turned the notifications off for shopping now. It's just yet another risk..

Same here - now. Hopefully, turning off the shopping notifications will prevent this from happening again (fingers crossed).

We got the Alexa because my wife is getting more and more "mobility limited" and this way, she can just turn lights on and off with her voice, rather than straining to reach for the lights themselves (or keep track of a remote control).

I never expected it to become a tattle-tale.
Oh well, live and learn.

BTW - the belt came in yesterday and I got it put away without incident.
It's cute.

[Kelli_cd]

I agree about cash. I do most I can to avoid leaving a paper trail when I'm buying feminine items.

[Jenn A116]

For those who do have an Alexa device in your home, you can turn off notifications like that. I forget how it's done, but it was something fairly simple. The only reason I use Alexa is to set timers and occasionally for a weather forecast.

[Stephanie47]

I have an ad blocker set on my computer but it is worthless. Tucked into the screen of news reports is a constant barrage of ads for women's clothing. It seems, if I check out femme garments at a store I am going to get ads sent to that IP address. It's ads not from a particular store selling Vanity Fair panties, but other stores too. I think there must be some former employees of the National Security Agency working for ad companies to gather data.

[JuliannaS]

Ive been ratted out by Alexa before lol...one time my girlfriend said "so you got a new dress ...." I asked how she knew, and she said the notification on Alexa����....
We both thought it was funny.

[Karen Wilder]

My solution to all these issues is to refuse to have a cell phone and any Alexa/Siri, etc. devices. I'm no luddite as I am an electronics engineer but just refuse to buy into this nonsense. Do not get me started on the technological crap stuffed into new cars these days! To keep my post on topic and relevant to this discussion and site, I do get YouTube and Facebook market place recommendations for crossdressing items but delete them when they pop up.

[Genifer Teal]

I often wonder why they have to specify men or women's belt or men or women's high heels shoes what would the difference be maybe? With the shoes you need to know the sizing correctly but otherwise your obviously choosing it by looks.
I don't think anything else changes for a man or a woman.

[Fiona_44]

I don't have Alexa or Siri or a smart TV. I also don't connect my cell phone to my car's phone function. Too much tracking going on.

[Bianca Fay]

I've had Alexa for about a year and a half now and I quickly learned that the yellow light meant that there was a notification. Typically this was a message saying that my recent order had arrived.

I was surprised one day when I returned home and saw the yellow light because I didn't have any pending orders.

When I asked Alexa what the notification was about, she loudly asked if I would like to leave a review about the no-nonsense pantyhose I had purchased the previous month. I was not expecting that but at least I was alone at the time.

Big Brother is here and he's watching our every move. On the plus side, Alexa has a feature that allows her to whisper!

[abby054]

Alexa made the mistake of putting ads on my wife?s computer for things that wife had only mentioned in Alexa?s presence and nowhere else. Wife accused Alexa of being a spy. She is asked me to dispose of Alexa, which I gladly did. No battery, no Alexa. No problems with ads too closely targeted for comfort. No problems with Alexa ratting me out as a CD,

I messed with Alexa shortly before this. My doctor used Alexa to provide music in his office. He hid Alexa under the shrubbery in a fake plant pot. I did not like the music choice. So I sat down next to the plant and said softly Alexa Stop. No more annoying music. I must be careful because the doctor?s receptionist, I know from experience, is a cruel woman.

Cash is king when I want privacy. My Dad told me long ago that even the IRS has trouble tracing cash transactions. I took his word for it. I already have plenty of trouble in my life without asking for more by doing stupid stuff in front of the IRS. Cash works in keeping CD things quiet around home. Twenty years ago, I got a credit card with all communication on line. It worked. No communications off line yet. Same for my storage unit that I acquired in 1998. No communications off line yet. BTW, I pay the credit card by automatic deduction and the storage unit with cash.

Ad tracking did catch me in another way. Ads for shoes that I look at on my home computer started showing up on my computer at work. A client saw this and asked about it. Wife has a birthday coming up was my reply. That satisfied the client but the work computers cookies did not survive a single minute after the client left. Home computers cookies did not survive the day either. That put an end to the ads until I looked at shoes again at home. I now make it a habit to shut down every computer when ending the day and to delete cookies as I shut down. That covers most of my troubles.

[Jane G]

LoL. I expect she heard and noted each and every syllable. Then secretly rolled her eyes and stored it away for the right occasion. Who needs Alexa, the walls have ears and report directly to the female of the species. Every one knows that. I occasionally hear them. I take that as a good sign.

[Maria 60]

My wife loved Alexa but I told her as long as she knows we are never alone and she always listening. Well she changed her mind and off it went.
Amazon got me a few times off guard, my daughter asked if she could order from my Prime account to get free shipping and there it came. Wigs, pantyhose, and my daughters are so observeing they catch a hair out of place. I once put a pantyhose wrapper in the garbage and they asked my about it because they know my wife never wears them and even seeing a colour lipstick out and questions that my wife doesn't wear that colour.
As she was ordering her stuff she didn't say anything but I'm sure her mind was buzzing about what the hell is her dad shopping for but she didn't say anything. Maybe better if you don't know it won't hurt you situation.
I have vented about technology numerous times here and FaceTime I took my biggest hit when my sister in law caught me in the back ground. Now a days you have to be careful even having a conversation with someone because they can be videotaping or voice recording on ther cell phones. There's just no privacy anymore

[Melinda Jean]

All of these "close calls" are the exact reason I refuse to use things that can use Alexa or Siri, and I'm positive my phone is "listening" too, based on what pops up in my Facebook feed when I have it nearby. It's very, very eerie! Just think of what else might be known about you. I know its tough not to leave any kind of electronic footprint, but I strive to minimize it as much as I can!

[Christie ann]

Unfortunately it’s not just the little speakers so many have invited into our homes. I do not ever get any ads for men’s clothes. Not in an email, not by text and not as an ad that pops up when checking the weather. How about the emails that ask if you would like to rate that dress you just bought. Or my favorite, the email that reminds you that you just looked at these really cute tops and surely you want one, right? My wife doesn’t have enough birthdays to use as an excuse why I was looking.

It’s long past just being the guy who knows what a tea length dress is.

[jacques]

Oh the wonders of modern technology!

[CarlaWestin]

Yup, Alexa is attached only to wife's account.

Just recently, I was all excited to email some vital information to my wife.
We were sitting on the couch and she mentioned she had an email from Carla Westin, whoever that was.
Since the info was specific to a personal condition, I was stone cold busted.

"Uh, that's one of my nomme de plurs."

Unimpressed, she didn't mention it for the absolute perfect pause and then said,

"Big girl too?" (gmail address)

At least I got the whatever/uninterested response.