The emergence of smart speakers and voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) calls for updated scrutiny and theorization of auditory surveillance. This paper introduces the neologism and concept of “eavesmining” (eavesdropping + data mining) to characterize a mode of surveillance that operates on the edge of acoustic space and digital infrastructure. In contributing to a sonic epistemology of surveillance, I explain how eavesmining platforms and processes burrow the voice as a medium between sound and data and articulate the acoustic excavation of smart environments. The paper discusses eavesmining in relation to theories of dataveillance, the sensor society, and surveillance capitalism before outlining the potential contributions offered by a theoretical alignment with sound studies literature. The paper centers on an empirical case study of the Amazon Echo and Alexa conditions of use. By conducting a discourse analysis of Amazon’s End User Agreements (EUAs), I provide evidence in support of growing privacy and surveillance concerns produced by Amazon’s eavesmining platform that are obfuscated by the illegibility of the documents.

中文翻译：

---

窃听：对Amazon Echo和Alexa使用条件的关键审核

智能扬声器和声控个人助理（VAPA）的出现要求对听觉监视进行更新的审查和理论化。本文介绍了新词和“侦听”（窃听+数据挖掘）的概念，以描述一种在声学空间和数字基础设施边缘运行的监视模式。在为监视的声音认识论做出贡献时，我解释了窃听平台和过程如何挖掘声音作为声音和数据之间的媒介，以及如何表达智能环境的声音挖掘。本文在讨论数据监视理论，传感器社会理论和监视资本主义理论之前，探讨了窃听，然后概述了与声音研究文献的理论一致性所提供的潜在贡献。本文以Amazon Echo和Alexa使用条件的经验案例研究为中心。通过对Amazon的最终用户协议（EUA）进行话语分析，我提供了证据来支持Amazon的窃听平台产生的日益增长的隐私和监视问题，这些问题被文件的模糊性所迷惑。