{"id":56770,"date":"2024-08-05T08:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T08:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b2dece8c-4a6f-408e-b64a-9eb5ed334ecd"},"modified":"2024-08-05T08:22:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T08:22:00","slug":"5-amazon-alexa-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/5-amazon-alexa-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-away\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Amazon Alexa privacy settings you should change right away"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Echo<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Maria Diaz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we brought our first Amazon Alexa device<\/a> into our home almost 10 years ago, we were rightly concerned about having a device listening to everything that went on in our family room.<\/p>\n

We eventually grew more comfortable and knowledgeable about Alexa’s listening limitations. Today, we have an Alexa in practically every room of the house<\/a>. Yes, that includes the bathrooms. <\/p>\n

Also: 5 ways to make your Echo Show less annoying<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexa has not been without its weird behaviors. Alexa has decided to pop into a conversation when nothing resembling a wake word has been spoken. My wife has told me several times that if it wasn’t for the usefulness of Alexa (particularly in managing lists and time), she’d want the devices out of the house. I tend to agree.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it is possible to improve your privacy when using Alexa. In this article, I detail five things you can do to reduce — but not eliminate — Alexa’s necessary intrusions on your privacy.<\/p>\n

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Where to find Alexa’s privacy settings <\/h2>\n

To get started, you’ll need to go to the Alexa app on your phone. I use an iPhone<\/a>, but Android phones<\/a> will look substantially the same. <\/p>\n

Also: 16 incredibly useful things Alexa can do on Amazon Echo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Start by opening the Alexa app and tap the More button in the lower right corner of the home screen:<\/p>\n

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\"more.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then tap the Settings item. Then tap Alexa Privacy:<\/p>\n

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\"settings.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, scroll down to Manage Your Alexa Data and tap that option:<\/p>\n

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\"manage-data.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’ll be on this screen for the first three of our key settings. Let’s get started. <\/p>\n

1. Control how long Alexa will save recordings <\/h2>\n

In Manage Your Alexa Data, look for Voice Recordings, and tap “Choose how long to save recordings.” This feature determines how long the Alexa cloud saves all the voice recordings it picks up from your Alexa devices:<\/p>\n

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\"voice.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see, mine is set to “Save recordings until I delete them,” because I write about Alexa. If there’s an interesting behavior, I’d like to be able to go back in time and see what my Alexas picked up with their mics. I think of this feature as having debugging enabled:<\/p>\n

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\"voice-how-long.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Besides, my wife and I are fairly boring and never say anything incriminating that might be recorded. If anyone were to listen to all our recordings, they’d hear hours upon hours of, “Oh, Pixel is such a good boy<\/a>. Who’s a good boy? Pixel is a good boy.” <\/p>\n

Also: How Amazon can turn around its failing Alexa business in 4 steps<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s no reason to keep these recordings around otherwise. I wish Amazon offered an option to save recordings for one day instead of its minimum of three months. One day would give users a chance to see what Alexa heard, but not leave those recordings around forever. <\/p>\n

If you’re privacy conscious, I’d recommend changing this setting to “Don’t save recordings.”<\/p>\n

2. Control how long Alexa saves smart home device history <\/h2>\n

Alexa keeps a record of all the smart home activities in your home. Taken with your voice history, these recordings provide a fairly clear view of your movements within your home. If you have thermostats or other sensors, Alexa also keeps track of the temperatures you find comfortable. <\/p>\n

To control this feature, you’ll want to be on the Manage Your Alexa Data screen and scroll down until you get to Smart Home Device History:<\/p>\n

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\"smart-home.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once again, I keep mine set to “Save history until I delete it from Alexa,” mostly for debugging and analysis. If you want the least amount of information saved, you might want to set yours to “Save history for 3 months:”<\/p>\n

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\"third-party.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s baffling that Amazon doesn’t have a “Don’t save history” option. Fortunately, you can delete your history by going back to Manage Your Alexa Data. This time, scroll down until you see “One-time deletion of history.” Tap that setting, read the warning, and then tap Delete. <\/p>\n

3. Don’t allow Amazon employees to listen to your recordings <\/h2>\n

This is easy. Just say no. From Manage Your Alexa Data, scroll down to “Help improve Alexa.” Make sure the toggle for “Use of voice recordings” is turned off:<\/p>\n

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\"employees.png\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Screenshot by David Gewirtz\/ZDNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is one place where Amazon explicitly says that “Only an extremely small fraction of voice recordings go through human review.” So, while I’m vaguely amused by the prospect of some unfortunate Amazon employee listening to me baby-talking to my pup, I see no reason to leave this feature on. <\/p>\n

Amazon does say, “If you turn this off, voice recognition and new features may not work well for you,” but I haven’t had any issues with Alexa’s performance so far. <\/p>\n

4. Review what skills have access to your data <\/h2>\n

Amazon isn’t the only company that may have access to data from your Alexa activities. Whenever you enable an Alexa skill<\/span><\/a><\/span>, the company that produced the skill may have access to your information. Specifically, skills may: <\/p>\n