Your data is power. But how much of that power you hold is up for debate when tech giants easily rewrite the rules. Amazon’s latest move with Alexa is a prime example. As of March 28, your Echo device now sends all voice recordings to the cloud for processing, whether you like it or not. The option to prevent them from collecting your voice data is gone, leaving you with two choices: accept the new terms or stop using their devices altogether.
Amazon proves it doesn’t care about your privacy
Amazon has been notifying users via email that it’s removing a key Alexa privacy setting. Previously, you could stop voice recordings from being sent to their servers, but that option has disappeared. According to their findings, only 0.03% of customers used it anyway. Either people aren’t generally cautious with their data or Amazon is downplaying the demand.
Regardless, you will be switched to “Don’t save recordings” automatically. This means Alexa will still process everything in the cloud, but it won’t retain the recordings afterward.
It’s bad enough that there are already concerns about the assistant secretly recording users without permission. Currently, there’s no guarantee that your data is actually deleted after processing. Given past controversies surrounding smart assistants, this change raises more eyebrows. Companies often allow employees and contractors to listen to user recordings to improve voice recognition.
Besides trust, another issue with the option to not save recordings is that it breaks voice identification and personalized responses. These features rely on stored audio clips to differentiate users and remember past interactions. Without that memory, Alexa can’t recognize individual voices or provide tailored responses. User-specific calendar reminders and preferences won’t work correctly or at all.
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What your future looks like with Amazon
If you use Alexa for smart home control, reminders, shopping, or other tasks, Amazon will have real-time insights into your habits and interests. That one embarrassing request you made and every little thing you tell Alexa gets analyzed and used to refine their AI. Even your closest friend or family member doesn’t know you that well.
The grand reason behind removing the privacy setting is Alexa+, Amazon’s upcoming AI-powered upgrade. Basically, Alexa 2.0, just like how Google replaced Assistant with Gemini. The company claims that cloud processing is necessary to enhance Alexa’s conversational abilities, considering the hardware limitations in local processing.
Surprisingly, nothing about this change is new. Specifically, the 4th-generation Echo Dot, Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15 were the devices that supported local processing. If you had a device model without the option to restrict sending or saving recordings, you were always sending voice recordings to the cloud. Amazon is only going back to how Alexa worked before those few newer devices introduced it.
It’s anti-progress at a time when the technology industry is moving forward with on-device processing. It’s the new norm where the end user’s privacy is the priority. With Amazon practicing something completely different, it’s time to switch assistants or unplug your Echo devices permanently.
