CounterBug – A device that facilitates your digital paranoia

CounterBug is a concept that offers a self defense system against potential spying in your own health home. Did you know that there are more than 100 million devices compatible with Alexa that have been sold? This means that more than 100 million users depend on Alexa to listen to music, use their thermostats, turn on their lights, and more. Many people believe that these digital assistant devices are invaluable aids; but others believe they are Trojans in the age of digital surveillance.

Erlend Prendergast's CounterBug targets those who view Alexa as a digital assistant and digital spy. It is designed for paranoid people about where their data could end up; for what purpose they could be used. CounterBug is a set of accessories that monitors Alexa's algorithms. Each piece having different objectives. It responds to different forms of surveillance paranoia, one to censor the user's language in order to avoid any problem with the NSA, one to disrupt Amazon's ad algorithms and another to chat with Alexa about strange subjects and random when you're not at health home.

MurMur is doing its best to confuse Amazon’s algorithms for personalized advertising. At the mention of a sentence that could indicate a personal preference, a taste or a hobby, MurMur will whisper something completely opposite.

Examples: A person mentions a book on the Pankhurst sisters, MurMur murmurs "The launch of Kim Kardashian's book", asks Alexa "Does McDonald's book? MurMur whispers "Gastronomic pubs near me".

Blabber’s main goal is to create a perfect digital character for the user. On when the user leaves the house, Blabber acts independently; conversing with Alexa about socially desirable things.

Examples: "Alexa, what are the ethical implications of buying clothes in Coz?", "Alexa, list the best books on Dostoevsky", "Alexa, what are the best animal charities to support?"

Scramble site alert is awaiting the mention of certain trigger words monitored by the NSA. Upon mentioning a trigger word, Scramble does its best to shout over it. Trigger words include: dictionary, scan, ionosphere, white noise, pink noise, pirates, car bomb.

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