“Only the Beginning, Only Just the Start . . . Mostly I’m Silent”: New Constitutional Challenges with Data Collection Devices Brought into the Home

Carol Nackenoff

Last December, our son purchased a Google Assistant for my husband, who uses it to do very simple things--check the weather, play music, set a cooking timer, and ask questions such as who won the World Series in 2001 (answer: the Arizona Diamondbacks). Google Assistant (which disappointingly has no other name), Alexa (Amazon), Cortana (Microsoft), Siri (Apple), Google Home, and other artificial intelligence (“AI”) devices wait for the wake word and only seem to sleep. They listen, and when summoned, respond. These assistants get smarter each year. Perhaps in the not very distant future, such devices can and will record for far longer than a minute. Digital assistants are everywhere: There are even voice-activated, self-driving refrigerators (which we must need in some sick universe so that someone can determine whether we grabbed a cold, hoppy IPA or an organic carrot). Even without these specific digital assistants, most of us probably already live in smart homes with smart phones, cameras, TVs, toothbrushes, and beds, and have plenty of data collected by the Internet of Things. The collection list expands further when we rove with smart cars and Fitbits. We may even be unaware of the data collection capacities or defaults on some of the devices we willingly bring into our lives. The Internet of Things refers to “networks of common devices that transmit data to each other through tiny radio sensors ... [creating] in essence, self-cybersurveillance.” These devices contribute to the enormous amounts of personal data many of us create for our own use--and for use by others. “Activities that were once private or shared with the few now leave trails of data that expose our interests, traits, beliefs, and intentions.”