After a Year of Stories Confirming the Logical Consequences of Collecting All of Your Personal Information, Facebook Introduces an Always-Listening Assistant With a Video Camera ⇥ buzzfeednews.com

Nicole Nguyen, Buzzfeed:

Today, Facebook — which is still reeling from the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and last month’s massive security breach — announced a voice-activated gadget with a screen, always-listening microphone, and camera designed for video chat called Facebook Portal. It’s like an Amazon Echo Show for Facebook Messenger.

There are two models: a small 10-inch Portal ($199) and a larger 15-inch Portal+ ($349), which can rotate to portrait or landscape orientations.

Saying a simple command, “Hey Portal,” and then the name of the person you’d like to call, starts a video chat. The camera has the ability to track people when they enter the room, and it can pan, widen, and zoom automatically. The devices also include the always-listening Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, and can be used to control smart home devices and offer weather information.

Nobody should buy this product. Moreover, it’s absurd that Facebook would think that now would be a terrific time to introduce an always-listening box with a camera — no matter how many reassuring bullet points they slap on a marketing webpage.