Now Alexa will be sharing your hotel room

Here's the latest Amazon innovation that's likely to freak out some of us.

The e-retailer giant announced Tuesday it was offering Alexa for Hospitality to hotels, vacation rentals and more, using its voice-activated Echo device.

The way it's described by Amazon, it might make the phone and digital clock radio on your bedside table obsolete, along with the wake-up call from the front desk.

"Using the Amazon Echo in their room" Amazon said in a release, "guests can now ask Alexa for hotel information, contact the hotel to request guest services, play music in their room and more."

Amazon, in its announcement, describes a world where guests will use the Echo to find out pool hours, the location of the fitness center, call housekeeping and perhaps adjust the lights, the television or the blinds.

You also will be able to play your digital music through it or listen to an Audible book. Or hear the hotel's selected iHeartRadio stations.

There's also things only the hotel guests can access.

'For example," the release stated, "Marriott Hotels guests, at properties where Alexa for Hospitality is deployed, can take advantage of the brand’s partnership with TED by requesting Alexa play a TED Talk on mindfulness, creativity or leadership."

Alexa for Hospitality will be rolled out first to the Charlotte Marriott City Center in North Carolina, and the Marriott Irvine Spectrum in California, said Jennifer Hsieh, vice president for Customer Experience Innovation, Marriott International, via a company spokeswoman.

The device also will be featured in eight other properties across the Autograph Collection, Westin, St. Regis and Aloft hotel brands, Hsieh said.

Vacation rental properties in the new Alexa program include RedAwning and properties connected to Two Roads Hospitality, including Thompson Hotels, Joie de Vivre, Destination Hotels and Alila.

Those concerned about their privacy have options.

"At Marriott, Alexa for Hospitality is muted as a default, requiring guests to unmute the device in order to use it," Hsieh said. "Guests could also ask to have the device removed from the room."

Voice-activated technology like Alexa is a growing share of device sales. Last holiday season, Amazon said it sold tens of millions of the various versions of the Echo.

"So many of our guests use voice technology in their home, and we want to extend that convenience to their travel experience," Hsieh said.

It's not all about what you can do with Alexa, either. Amazon also notes that "Hoteliers can also use Alexa for Hospitality to measure engagement through analytics and adapt services based on guest feedback."

No specifics were given on the analytics part of this.

Consumer advocate Adam Levin, founder of CyberScout and author of "Swiped," offered his own one-sentence summary: "Alexa is not a friend with benefits."

Levin, who spoke to The News Tribune last year about security issues related to Amazon Key, says he also recently found an Echo device at a hotel he visited overseas. He unplugged it.

He also doesn't have an Echo device in his home.

He offered examples of situations where there could be problems:

"It's the middle of the night, Alexa is on and you have an emergency at work," he said. "Someone calls you and you're doing damage control over the phone. Meanwhile, there is effectively a reporter sitting by your bedside.

"Or, any sensitive business call, where you are discussing proprietary information and maybe you used Alexa earlier but forgot she's still on."

Amazon insists Echo does not snoop or eavesdrop, and that its microphones are engaged only when you use the wake word, "Alexa." Guests named "Alexa" will need to leave the Echo on mute except when using it, a Marriott spokeswoman said.

That said, at least one research team has shown it could hack an Echo for eavesdropping, through a vulnerability Amazon then fixed.

There also has been at least one instance where an Echo recorded a conversation and then sent it to a person on the owner's contact list. That was blamed on the device misinterpreting background conversations as commands to send a message.

There also was the time an Echo was subpoened in Bentonville, Arkansas, in search of recordings related to a murder case.

"Look," Levin said, "I'm not telling people to pull these things out of the wall. There are some people who say, 'I don't care. I'm fine. I'm excited to talk to something and have my food show up.' "

"But people need to understand there are downsides with making things convenient."

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Now Alexa will be sharing your hotel room."