Amazon’s recent decision to remove the “Do not send voice recordings” option for Alexa users has left many concerned about their privacy. The company’s conversational AI upgrade, Alexa Plus, will be able to listen to and analyze all voice recordings starting March 28.
Under the new policy, all recorded voice commands sent to Alexa will be automatically processed by Amazon in the cloud. This means that even if you don’t use the “Do not send” option, your voice data is still being collected and analyzed for training purposes.
Amazon claims that this data will help Alexa Plus better understand users’ voices and improve its conversational capabilities. However, many experts are questioning the ethics of collecting such vast amounts of personal data without explicit user consent.
The new policy affects only two specific settings: “Do not send voice recordings” and “Do not save voice recordings.” Other Alexa features, such as Skill permissions, remain intact but may still collect some limited data.
While Amazon encrypts voice data in transit to the cloud, experts warn that decryption could occur for analysis purposes. The company has previously acknowledged that human employees have manually annotated parts of Alexa recordings in the past, which raises concerns about data misuse.
Despite these risks, Amazon asserts that its cloud storage and processing systems are secure, citing recent penalties for non-compliance with children’s privacy laws. However, users should be cautious, as breaches into customer data can occur.
Currently, there is no clear workaround to prevent Alexa from collecting voice recordings. The change appears to be a “privacy ultimatum” that requires users to either allow Amazon access to their voice data or stop using the service.
As the rollout of Alexa Plus approaches, users must weigh the benefits of advanced conversational capabilities against the risks associated with widespread data collection and analysis.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/security/amazon-is-canceling-this-alexa-privacy-feature-on-march-28-should-you-worry