Amazon ends feature that allowed some Echo users to withhold sending voice recordings to company

On March 28, some Amazon Echo users will lose their ability to withhold sending their stored voice recordings to the company’s cloud storage system.

With the rollout of Alexa+, the company’s generative AI version of its personal assistant, Amazon will be discontinuing its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option for Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15 devices. That setting offered an extra layer of privacy by allowing users to withhold stored voice commands.

“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 company said in an email sent to customers, Ars Technica reported.

The company says that its customers who used the "Do Not Send" feature can use a "Don't save recordings" option in the Alexa settings for greater privacy.

‘The Alexa experience’

On a Reddit thread, some Echo users expressed their displeasure.

“I have zero interest in the enhanced Alexa, not offering the chance to opt out of this change even though I don't intend to use the service shows the lack of consideration on the part [of] this company for my privacy, which apparently was somewhat of an illusion all along,” one user wrote.

In an email to Yahoo News, Amazon said the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” feature was only used by less than 0.03% of customers.

“The Alexa experience is designed to protect our customers’ privacy and keep their data secure, and that’s not changing. 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,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

One of the features Amazon is touting about Alexa+ is called Alexa Voice ID, which gives its devices the ability to recognize who is speaking commands. In order to use that, however, users must give up the option of selecting “Don’t save recordings,” another privacy setting, if they want full functionality with the AI platform.

Privacy concerns

User data is an incredibly valuable commodity for tech companies like Amazon, and its storage has been at the center of numerous court cases over the past decade. In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay $25 million to settle federal charges that it had violated a children’s online privacy law when it kept data for years that included voice recordings of minors and their locations.

In a review of the best Alexa smart speakers, the New York Times wrote that “these versatile devices tap into all of the glories of the internet but with the added ease of voice commands. Summon Alexa, and your smart speaker can play music from your preferred streaming services, help you find and follow recipes, recite the news, or control smart devices in your home.”

But the prospect of the loss of privacy options while sending hours' worth of voice recordings to a tech company in the AI age has some users worried.

“Imagine the next time there is a data breach and someone has access to all your voice recordings, and the broad range of AI scammers the hackers could sell that data to,” a commenter wrote on Reddit. “It'll make those fake ‘Mom and Dad, I've been arrested and I need money sent for bail’ scams using a person's real voice look like child’s play.”

In February, Amazon announced that subscribing to Alexa+ would cost $19.99 per month but would be free for Prime members.

Correction: An earlier headline on this story incorrectly characterized a feature that allowed some Alexa users to opt out of sharing their voice recordings with the company.

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