Authorities give the green light: Amazon is allowed to use radar technology with immediate effect. This would enable the shopping group to monitor the sleep of its users.
In the future, Amazon will be allowed to monitor the sleep of users with radar technology. A request from the online retailer was approved by the US communications authority, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), late last week. This is reported by the business magazine, among others “Bloomberg”.
With the radar sensors, movements can be recorded remotely and so “sleep can be monitored contactless”, according to the application to the Amazon authorities. The technology should not only track one’s own sleep. Since the movements are recorded three-dimensionally by the device, they can also be controlled without touching it.
It is currently unclear which Amazon devices will be equipped with radar technology in the future. It is conceivable that the manufacturer’s Echo speaker series will receive the new sleep tracking function. Amazon did not officially launch its Alexa voice assistant and the Echo speakers until spring 2021 in Switzerland. According to “Bloomberg”, Amazon is also pushing its way into the health and wellness sector with its Halo bracelet. The device, which measures body fat, among other things, was criticized by testers for being too invasive.
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Google uses radar
But Amazon isn’t the only company using radar technology. Google also uses radar technology to analyze users’ sleep. This is built into the smart loudspeaker, the Nest Hub 2. The device has been specially optimized for the bedroom. The manufacturer promises that it will be easier to fall asleep and wake up when the device is next to the bed. Because the display gets darker in the evening to make it more pleasant. The radar sensors also record your own sleep. However, the feature must be activated manually beforehand. With the sensor, Google can tell when you go to bed, how long you sleep and when you wake up again.
When a journalist asked at the presentation whether activities other than sleep in bed were also recorded, a Google employee answered “No” in April 2021. The device does not have a camera. According to Google, the sleep data is also not used for advertising purposes.
