Amazon announced that starting March 28, all voice recordings from Echo devices will be sent to the company’s cloud for processing. This change comes as Amazon introduces a new version of its voice-controlled AI assistant, Alexa, with advanced generative AI features. In an email to customers who had previously enabled the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option on their devices, Amazon stated, “As we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud, we have decided to no longer support this feature.”
The decision to send all voice recordings to the cloud has raised concerns about privacy implications.
In the past, consumers and regulators have questioned Alexa’s handling of user data. In 2023, Amazon reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over children’s privacy issues related to the voice assistant. Amazon spokesperson Lauren Raemhild addressed these concerns, saying, “The Alexa experience is designed to protect our customers’ privacy and keep their data secure, and that’s not changing.
Sending voice recordings to cloud
We’re focusing on the privacy tools and controls that our customers use most and work well with generative AI experiences that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud.”
Users who do not update their settings will have their Alexa preferences automatically switched to the “Don’t save recordings” option. While this means that voice recordings will still be sent to the cloud for processing, they will be deleted immediately afterward.
Additionally, all previously saved voice recordings will be removed, and users will not be able to create a new voice ID under this setting. The local processing of voice recordings was only available on a limited number of devices, including the Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15, and only for users in the United States with devices set to English. This change in policy is linked to the upcoming release of Amazon’s AI-powered virtual assistant, Alexa+.
Although the company has not provided a specific release date, the timing of this update suggests that the upgrade could begin rolling out on March 28.
Photo by; Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash
