Amazon has ended its unused privacy features that allow some users of Echo Smart speakers to prevent voice commands from moving to the company’s cloud.
Starting March 28, Amazon has closed the “Do not send audio recordings” option, which will prevent audio from being sent to Amazon’s cloud and instead be processed locally on the device.
In an email sent to customers who were using this option, Amazon said it had decided that it would “no longer support this feature” to extend its functionality with generative artificial intelligence capabilities that rely on being processed in the cloud.
This change may sound surprising to privacy-conscious users, but it was not widely used or available. It only worked on three devices: the fourth generation Echo Dot, the Echo Show 10 and the Echo Show 15. Only US customers using devices set to English. Amazon said less than 0.03% of customers use it.
People still have the option to prevent Alexa from storing audio recordings. Anyone who used the “Do not send” feature as of March 28 will automatically opt to the “Do not save recording” option, Amazon said.
“The Alexa Experience is designed to protect your privacy and keep your data safe, and that hasn’t changed. It focuses on the privacy tools and controls that you use most, and works well with the generic AI experience that relies on Amazon’s secure cloud processing power,” Amazon said in a statement.
Original issue: March 20, 2025, 6:26pm EDT
