Amazon Echo, Google Home: Virtual Assistants or Big Brother?   >

Devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home claim to listen and record what we say only after we use trigger words. For the Echo, it’s “Alexa.” But could these cool, trendy devices be recording more of us than we think?

The Amazon Echo and Google Home devices were among the hottest-selling gifts this holiday season. Now they are being scrutinized, as police in Bentonville, Arkansas, are asking for evidence from such a virtual assistant in a murder case.