Privacy advocates are concerned about US police seeking access to audio that might have been recorded by an Amazon Echo audio system that was located at the scene of a murder.

In November 2015, authorities say the suspect James Bates called the Bentonville, Arkansas police department to say he had found the body of his friend Victor Collins face down in water of a hot tub.  But investigators found blood splatters about the tub along with other evidence that suggested a violent assault.

The Amazon Echo is a voice-activated device with seven microphones that pick up sounds from any direction up to about 20 feet.  It's "always on", constantly listening for a "wake word" - either "Alexa" or "Amazon" - at which point the audio is transmitted to Amazon's computer servers, which interpret the request and tell it how to respond.

Detectives have already extracted some audio from the device, but it's not clear if it is relevent to the investigation.  Amazon was served with two search warrants but refused to share information sent by the smart device to its servers.

"While many privacy advocates have expressed interest in this case due to the technology involved, this case is really about seeking justice for the victim, who was a husband and a father," said prosecutor Nathan Smith.

But Amazon believes the cops are on a fishing expedition because they're not asking for a specific piece of evidence:  "Amazon will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us," said a spokesman.  "Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course."

There's also the possibility that Arkansas investigators aren't really clear on what Amazon Echo is or does.

"What this 'always listening' means is that the device is not eavesdropping and interpreting everything you're saying," said Lynn Terwoerds, the executive director of the Executive Women’s Forum, which founded and sponsors the Voice Privacy Alliance.  "We have to fight against the myth of Echo listening in on our every word and sending that data to Amazon - it's simply untrue," she added.

Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center is calling for a "clear legal standard that governs law enforcement access" to devices such as cameras, cellphones and voice-actuated appliances that are connected to the internet.

What's more, who do you trust with access to these devices?  It's one thing if local cops think they're going to solve a murder.  It's something else altogether if local cops just want to "listen in" to your living for potentially incriminating conversation. 

The world was alarmed by the revelations from US National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who detailed civilian and political surveillance programs far beyond what reasonable people expected.  That was under the Obama Administration.  What's going to happen with these devices when Trump is in the White House, and in command of the world's more intrusive security apparatus?