Alexa is Your New Guard Dog -- and Snoop

A new in-built skill in Alexa monitors your house for break-ins and emergencies while you are away.

There's no hiding from Big Brother  Alexa

Simply say "Alexa I'm Leaving" and the device will go into "Guard" mode. If the device hears the sound of breaking glass or a smoke alarm it will send out an alert with that message. Users can also playback the sound from their phone with that message.

If the homeowner uses ADT as a security company Amazon will also send an alert to them so that it can take action.

To enable the service Alexa uses the same acoustic technology as it does to monitor for its wake word (ie Alexa). This is a very novel use of technology, but it certainly opens the door for abuse.

For example police departments have been known to get warrants for recordings that Alexa has made, but now since we know that Alexa is listening in real-time I can imagine that the police could get a warrant to eavesdrop.

Forget about those movies where the police place bugs in your house or tap your phone -- we've done the work for them.