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  •   over 4 years ago

Receiving sensitive content unintentionally

The problem I’m having is a lot of my ideas could touch on sensitive issues which may result in unintentionally getting sensitive or legally reportable information in my system (from users). I see some risk here, as I don’t want my AWS account caught up in any type of investigation by authorities. How does the Alexa team manage this? Are authorities able to go directly to them rather than to developers to get the information they need? It kind of limits the scope of ‘socially good’ projects that can be attempted.

  • 3 comments

  • Manager   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi Steven,

    Great question! Hang tight and we'll try to help you with an answer.

    Thanks,
    Khimee

  • Manager   •   over 4 years ago

    Hey Steven,

    Can you email me with a little more info on what would be collected? I'll have to follow up. stefanie @ devpost . com

    Best,
    Stef

  •   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi Stef,

    So for example, looking at some of the major social issues - government transparency, education, health, homelessness, depression, community safety, people trafficking, environmental protection, domestic violence etc.

    If I were to make a skill in the context of one of these issues, there is a chance a customer could supply information such as details of a crime, details of an environmental incident, reports of self harm, threats to the government or reports of endangerment. I definitely would not be asking for this information but a lot of unwanted information does make it into our application back-end due to user's either having a bit of fun or expressing genuine concern. Any highly trained slot in the Alexa input will accept most parts of a phrase and pass it through to the back-end and I don't really want this information in my AWS account.

    It means that more light-hearted and superficial solutions may have to be developed to address the problem statement to avoid taking on this risk. I was hoping that someone from a non-profit could help us better understand their operational processes to give us an idea on how Alexa could play a role in the value chain of socially focused services.

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