As soon as you utter the magic “wake” word for your Alexa-powered device, a server somewhere in Amazon’s compound stores anything you say for the next couple of seconds. These cloud-based servers are the actual brains behind the assistant, pulling all the strings. They store recordings of numerous commands you issue to Amazon’s voice assistant. Once you initiate Alexa, it captures your voice command and sends it to cloud for further analysis and storage. That also means that the assistant is listening even when you are not interacting with it. Anything before you wake Alexa isn’t stored or sent over the Internet. The rest – that’s a whole another story, whether you like it or not. It’s unclear how long the information is stored and there is no way to prevent storing the recordings.
Let’s get straight to the point. Does Alexa store your recordings? Absolutely and for a good reason. It uses those recordings for training and improving its accuracy along the way. Alexa has the ability to adapt to each user’s voice, speech patterns, lexicon and private preferences over time. The training process is rather long and requires sizeable amounts of test data for Alexa to get on the right foot with you. Thus, it stands to reason that storing your recordings is not as bad as it might seem because it improves your overall experience and helps Alexa fine tune its comprehension.
But the question here is does Alexa store that information forever?
Amazon Alexa privacy issues
In late December last year, there was a murder case in Bentonville, Arkansas where the state’s prosecutor sought data from murder suspect’s Amazon Echo. The retail giant denied access, asserting that free speech protection, granted by the First Amendment, applies to technology as well. In this particular case, it translates to a black cylindrical speaker. The ensuing lasting legal battle over privacy rights is just the latest one in a plethora of similar cases, going back to the very beginnings of modern technology.
The good thing is that Amazon is adamant in retaining customer’s privacy by not releasing any information without a valid legal basis. At least that way, the information is safe and cannot be used against you. This brings us to the real question at hand – why is that data there in the first place? Sure, it’s used for training and all but how much of it is really necessary for indefinite storage? Amazon does offer a way to permanently delete the voice recordings with a catch, sort of. As Alexa is developed to get better over time, wiping that data degrades Alexa’s performance. Thus, the setback practically returns it to the starting point. In essence, it significantly restraints the personalized experience you expect and have paid for. So, you need these devices to be all ears all the time.
The notion that Alexa is always on, listening and taking notes that might somehow incriminate you is a frightening one. It poses a serious concern among users of any IoT (Internet of Things) device, not just Amazon’s as the competition pretty much does the same (we’re winking at you, Google). Now imagine millions of these and similar devices in as many homes. All together, they produce mountains of data. Granted, the vast majority of it doesn’t have any value to the next person in line, but it does raise a question of drawing the line between listening and recording. One might even say the technology has a great potential for infringement on personal privacies under plain sight.
Amazon Alexa data sources
If there was ever the time when personal privacy and security are under scrutiny in numerous layers of everyday life, it’s today. This is the world we live in. Every smartphone, laptop and assistant-powered device especially is a potential listening device if used for malicious purposes. This is a valid reason to be unsettled about and ultimately, an issue in which we, the consumers, play a big part. While seemingly it looks like we have little choice in the matter, the simple truth is we are the manufacturers of all that data. Nobody forces us to buy these products and reveal information about ourselves to third parties. But since we do, we must trust Amazon and others that they won’t use the data other than what’s intended for. More important, we have confidence it is completely and utterly secure from prying eyes.
It all comes down to trust. Are Amazon’s servers impenetrable? We, the consumers, obviously believe so. Does the company store all your recordings permanently? Apparently not, although there is no way to know for sure. At the moment, it’s unclear whether the data survives on servers after you delete it from your account. Still, there are ways to limit what Alexa records in the first place by turning off the “always listening” mode. On Echo and Echo Dot, there is a mute button you need to press. On Amazon Tap, you need to push the play/pause button for three seconds. Both the ring on top of the speakers and the buttons will light up red in this case. Even if not quite convenient, this way, you have firm control over when these devices are listening in.
How to delete your Amazon Alexa recordings
At least Amazon is candid about its storage of user data. You can review your voice communication with Alexa by visiting Settings>History in the Alexa App. There, you will find all your commands grouped by question or request. Tap an entry for more detail or replay the audio so you can hear what Alexa heard and stored. You can also delete specific voice recordings one at a time in the History tab. If you want to delete all voice recordings associated with your account, head on to www.amazon.com/mycd. You need to select your Alexa-enabled product at the Manage Your Content and Devices page and click on “Manage voice recordings”. Deleting voice recordings also removes Home Screen Cards related to those voice recording from the Alexa app. Be careful as removing a Home Screen Card from the app does not delete voice recordings on its own.
Conclusion
Amazon leaves no doubt in that it respects customer privacy by not handing over personal information unless legally demanded to do so. The retail giant’s contention only shows there are numerous unresolved legal issues regarding this technology. There is a multitude of scenarios where digital voice assistants could pose a problem or a security threat. Current legislation is struggling to keep up with the fast-developing technology. Amazon’s resolve in the Arkansas murder case can serve as a basis for setting legal standards regarding future instances.
However, the human factor plays a key role here as the situation applies to the majority of big names in tech. With the use of IoT technology, you are signing away a small part of your privacy. In the case of Alexa, it means storing mostly harmless things genuinely intended to enhance the experience. That is unless the wake word comes up in the middle of the conversation. Then, things get a little bit problematic and maybe you’ll need to delete Alexa’s entire index of your requests. Privacy-minded users will certainly welcome the occasional memory wipe every once in awhile. Rather than deleting all your voice interaction, avoid having an “always on” device by limiting what it records. This is also a viable solution, if less practical at times. The bottom line is people need to be like the devices they are using – smart. Otherwise, things could get really messy.