The Smart$^2$ Speaker Blocker: An Open-Source Privacy Filter for Connected Home Speakers

Abstract: The popularity and projected growth of in-home smart speaker assistants, such as Amazon's Echo, has raised privacy concerns among consumers and privacy advocates. Notable questions regarding the collection and storage of user data by for-profit organizations include: what data is being collected and how is it being used, who has or can obtain access to such data, and how can user privacy be maintained while providing useful services. In addition to concerns regarding what the speaker manufacturer will do with your data, there are also more fundamental concerns about the security of these devices, third-party plugins, and the servers where they store recorded data. To address these privacy and security concerns, we introduce an intermediary device to provide an additional layer of security, which we call the \textit{smart, smart speaker blocker} or Smart\textsuperscript{2} for short. By intelligently filtering sensitive conversations, and completely blocking this information from reaching a smart speaker's microphone(s), the Smart$^2$ Speaker Blocker is an open-source, network-local (offline) smart device that provides users with decisive control over what data leaves their living room.