Amazon is discontinuing a rarely-utilized privacy setting on its Echo smart speakers that enabled some users to prevent their voice commands from being transmitted to the company’s cloud. Starting March 28, Amazon is removing the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option, which processes audio locally on the device instead of sending it to Amazon’s cloud.
In an email to customers using the feature, Amazon stated that the choice to “no longer support this feature” comes as it expands Alexa’s capabilities with generative artificial intelligence features that depend on cloud processing. While this change may raise concerns for some privacy-conscious users, it was not widely available or used. The functionality was limited to three devices: the 4th generation Echo Dot, the Echo Show 10, and the Echo Show 15. Furthermore, it was only accessible to U.S. customers with devices set to English. Amazon indicated that less than 0.03% of its customers utilize this feature.
Customers will still have the option to prevent Alexa from saving voice recordings. According to Amazon, users who had been using the “Do Not Send” feature before March 28 will be automatically switched to the “Don’t save recordings” option. “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,” Amazon said in a released statement.
