PRIVACY: Google and Amazon use smart speakers for ‘surveillance,’ top tech investor says.

“I would say that there’s two or three layers sort of problematic layers with these new smart speakers, smart earphones that are in market now,” Borthwick told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer during an interview for his series “Influencers.”

“And so the first is, from a consumer standpoint, user standpoint, is that these, these devices are being used for what’s — it’s hard to call it anything but surveillance,” Borthwick said.

The way forward? Some form of regulation that gives users more control over their own data.

“I personally believe that you, as a user and as somebody who likes technology, who wants to use technology, that you should have far more rights about your data usage than we have today,” Borthwick said.

I’m not sure government intervention is the answer, but I do know that as much shopping as I do at Amazon, I’ve never bought an Alexa-powered speaker.