Mycroft Mark II: The Open Source Answer to Amazon Echo and Google Home That Doesn’t Spy on You – And Has a Screen
Amazon Echo and Google Home listen to you and record everything you say. It was reported that these devices listen to the conversations, even when they are not active. Moreover, Amazon will soon be using these devices to serve you ads. Imagine asking the device for the weather information and it tells you what kind of umbrella people are buying. On the other side, Google can never be trusted with your data.
So, what do the privacy aware people like you and me do?
Thankfully, we have an open source virtual assistant called Mycroft. It doesn’t violate your privacy, it is open and customizable. You can get the source code of Mycroft on GitHub. Mycroft also has their own set of smart speakers range called Mark.
They have just launched a new crowdfunding campaign for its upcoming second-generation smart speaker Mark II (read Mark 2). Unlike the previous model, the Mark II is a vertical device and resembles Google Home. Neither of Amazon Echo and Google Home has a display on it. Mark II clearly has an advantage here with its simple and clear display.
