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The Domestication of Voice-Activated Technology & Eavesmining: Surveillance, Privacy and Gender Relations at Home

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The Domestication of Voice-Activated Technology & Eavesmining: Surveillance, Privacy and Gender Relations at Home THE DOMESTICATION OF VOICE-ACTIVATED TECHNOLOGY & EAVESMINING: SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY AND GENDER RELATIONS AT HOME STEPHEN NEVILLE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO June 2019 © Stephen Neville, 2019 ABSTRACT This thesis develops a case study analysis of the Amazon Echo, the first-ever voice- activated smart speaker. The domestication of the device’s feminine conversational agent, ‘Alexa’, and the integration of its microphone and digital sensor technology in home environments represents a moment of radical change in the domestic sphere. This development is interpreted according to two primary force relations: historical gender patterns of domestic servitude and eavesmining (eavesdropping + datamining) processes of knowledge extraction and analysis. The thesis is framed around three pillars of study that together demonstrate: how routinization with voice-activated technology affects acoustic space and one’s experiences of home; how online warm experts initiate a dialogue about the domestication of technology that disregards and ignores Amazon’s corporate privacy framework; and finally, how the technology’s conditions of use silently result in the deployment of ever-intensifying surveillance mechanisms in home environments. Eavesmining processes are beginning to construct a new world of media and surveillance where every spoken word can potentially be heard and recorded, and speaking is inseparable from identification. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this thesis wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support of my family in Canada. While writing tirelessly in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, my regular conversations with my parents and sisters who often expressed both unspoken and explicit encouragement. Thank you to my father for his support throughout my academic journey thus far. My gratitude and love to my partner, Amanda, who gave me affectionate company from home during my research exchange and for coming to visit in Europe. Thank you for your kind patience and love in discussing my research—from the inception of the topic until its completion. I’m grateful for the many insightful opinions, perspectives and ideas you voiced and contributed to my research. My sincere gratitude to Dr. Jason Pridmore and Dr. Daniel Trottier at Erasmus University for hosting me at the Department of Media and Communication. I’m incredibly fortunate for their generosity in sharing their extensive knowledge and for the benefit of their company and expertise which has expanded my intellectual horizons on privacy and surveillance research, and also their good humour that provided memorable intellectual relief. Thank you to Dr. Rob Heynen for his ongoing correspondence and sharing his acumen about my research and on general privacy and surveillance topics. I am grateful to Dr. Heynen, Dr. Steve Bailey, and Dr. Bruno Lessard in offering their time, critical reflection, and general insights as thesis committee members. Finally, I am incredibly appreciative of Dr. Greg Elmer, my thesis supervisor, whose mentorship has been continually inspiring and rewarding. Thank you for challenging and guiding me in developing this work, and for providing me with the incredible opportunity to travel abroad to the Netherlands for research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vi List of Photographs ...................................................................................................................... vii List of Audio Recordings ........................................................................................................... viii Introduction and Objectives ........................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: The Domestication of Voice-Activated Technology & Eavesmining ..................... 5 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter Two: Listening-In to Technology in the Domestic Sphere ............................................ 57 Technical and Interactive Summary of the Technology .............................................................. 57 Methodology & Overall Design of the Study .............................................................................. 67 Chapter Three: Personal & Situational Domestication of Technology ....................................... 74 Autoethnography of User Practices at Home .............................................................................. 74 Autoethnography Research Findings Discussion......................................................................... 98 Chapter Four: Unboxing Alexa & the Amazon Echo ................................................................ 104 Discourse Analysis of Consumer Reviews & Comments .......................................................... 104 Discussion of Warm Expert Taxonomy & Hierarchy ................................................................ 138 Unboxing Research Findings Discussion .................................................................................. 163 Chapter Five: Watching Over Amazon’s Conditions of Use ..................................................... 169 Discourse Analysis of the End-User Agreement ....................................................................... 169 Conditions of Use Research Findings Discussion ..................................................................... 181 Chapter Six: Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 186 Crystallisation of Research Findings: Discussion ...................................................................... 186 Limitations of the Study & Directions for Future Research ...................................................... 193 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 195 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Outline of Information Collected from Amazon.com during Pre-Alexa Timeframe .. 170 Table 2: Outline of Changing Terminology in EUAs during Nascent Timeframe .................... 173 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Visualization of Demographic Variables in YouTube Data Sample ......................... 109 Figure 2: Visualization of Discursive Variables in YouTube Data Sample .............................. 110 Figure 3: Visualization of Proportionate Distribution of Warm Expert Figures ....................... 111 Figure 4: Summary of Warm Expert Themes Based on Number of Times Coded ................... 112 Figure 5: Comparative Visualization of Number of Videos & View Count per Warm Expert Figure .......................................................................................................................... 113 Figure 6: Comparative Visualization of Number of Videos, View Count & Comment Count per Warm Expert Figure ................................................................................................... 114 Figure 7: Comparative Visualization of View Count, Like Count & Dislike Count per Warm Expert Figure .............................................................................................................. 119 Figure 8: Summary of Unboxing Themes Based on Number of Times Coded ......................... 137 vi LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photograph 1: Private Room Occupied by Researcher in Rotterdam, the Netherlands ............... 76 vii LIST OF AUDIO RECORDINGS Audio Recording 1: Noisy Train A .............................................................................................. 78 Audio Recording 2: Noisy Train B .............................................................................................. 78 Audio Recording 3: Quiet Train .................................................................................................. 78 Audio Recording 4: Late-night Disruptive Party ......................................................................... 79 Audio Recording 5: Morning Alarm ............................................................................................ 83 Audio Recording 6: Threshold Spaces ........................................................................................ 86 Audio Recording 7: Biometric Enrollment of Alexa Voice Profile ............................................ 93 viii Introduction & Objectives The prospect of someone or something always listening can be deeply unnerving and disquieting. Indeed, the potential of being overheard can cause interlocutors to watch their words, to hush their voices or to completely silence themselves.
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