I don't understand why anyone would put an internet connected hot mike in their house.

I think LE involvement is just the start.

What happens when someone writes a tool for easy exploitation of these devices? It's the same idea behind hacking those shitty webcam security cameras people have. I can roll your house, log in to your camera, download a bunch of screenshots, and roll out in under a minute. Those screenshots tell me who is likely to be active in the house at any given time on any given day, and I can throw all that into a graph, and see which days would be suitable for entering your home.

Imagine what I could do if I could roll a house, download all Echo or Alexa queries, and then put together a comprehensive overview of what the house occupants are interested in, what they do and when they do it, how they talk and act, etc. It's terrifying from their perspective, but we reap what we sow when it comes to technology like this.

I can't help but think that people who are willing to throw away their privacy in exchange for convenience deserve what's coming to 'em.

The cops get a bad rap. I mean, I totally understand the contention that they shouldn't be involved with domestic dealings to the extent that they sometimes, but if device manufacturers gave half a shit about the user's privacy, crypto would be much stronger, and it wouldn't even be a question of whether or not some company will turn over the data. In a crypto-world, it's simpler in that regard because if a company gives info to feds that you know was encrypted, then it irrevocably invalidates that entire company because people then know that the company was cucked from the inside out.