What it knows: Collects most of the data from standard microphone-equipped Echo speakers, along with facial recognition maps for individual users (stored and processed locally) records video of areas in view of the camera logs how you interact with on-screen widgets and skills detects smoke alarms, glass-breaking or other activities. “Data enables, improves, and personalizes the features and experiences our customers enjoy,” says Schmidt, the Amazon spokeswoman.Īn Alexa smart speaker with a camera and screen for video calls, recipes and sharing family information. (You can only set it to auto-delete after 3 or 18 months.) When I downloaded the data Amazon had collected about the third party Alexa-connected devices in my house, it contained more than 600,000 data points since 2019. Unlike the privacy settings for Alexa voice recordings, Amazon offers no way to tell it to stop storing data from connected smart-home devices. Amazon says it doesn’t use this data for advertising. Why that matters: These devices add to a body of seemingly meaningless data that could help Amazon make inferences about daily rituals, power use and more. What it knows: When and where in your house you turn lights on or off energy use. Amazon says Alexa can interoperate with over 140,000 products. Smart lights, switches or shades integrated with AlexaĬonnecting these devices to Alexa allows you to control and automate your home, such as making lights turn off on a schedule, operate by voice or activate automatically when triggered by another sensor or device. “Providing customers with transparency and control over their information has always been incredibly important to Amazon, and we believe we’ve been very good stewards of peoples’ data,” says spokeswoman Kristy Schmidt. Only after years of criticism did Amazon add a setting to not keep any audio recordings. (Amazon says its systems now double check whether you intended to say the wake word and label accidental recordings.) Alexa can hear more than you might realize.Īmazon touts privacy controls like a physical microphone mute button, but when I downloaded my Alexa voice history, I found the Echo had recorded many sensitive conversations after its microphone activated unintentionally. Why that matters: It counts snores? Yes, if you turn that on. What it knows: Collects audio recordings through an always-on microphone keeps voice IDs to differentiate users detects coughs, barks, snores and other sounds logs music and news consumption logs smart-home device activity and temperature detects presence of people through ultrasound. Make sure to go back in and adjust the settings after the holidays are over, so you can quickly and easily keep track of your Amazon orders and when they will arrive.įinally, if you're used to getting Alexa delivery notifications, don't forget to sweep your porch for packages each day to ensure you don't miss anything.Among the best-selling speakers in history, Echos respond to the wake word “Alexa” to summon the voice assistant to play music, answer questions, shop and control other devices. Now you can rest easy knowing that your Echo speaker or Echo Showwon’t ruin any gifts you’ve ordered on Amazon. When you turn off delivery notifications, the light will no longer blink yellow. Usually, the base of your Echo speaker flashes yellow, alerting you that your order is on its way. But, if you’ve turned off the above settings, she will only tell you when the shipment will arrive. To test it out, say, “Alexa, where’s my stuff?” Typically, she would announce the name of the product you ordered. The second best thing you can do to safeguard against Alexa spoiling any surprises this holiday season is to make sure your new settings work as they should. These settings keep the specifics of your Amazon orders from appearing on an Echo Show smart display like the Show 10 (pictured).
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