Photo: Amazon
Amazon is set to eliminate a key privacy feature for its Echo devices, requiring all voice recordings to be sent to its cloud for processing, effective March 28. This change will impact users who previously opted for local processing via the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" setting.
According to Ars Technica, Amazon notified affected customers via email, citing the need for cloud processing to support the expanding capabilities of Alexa, particularly its generative artificial intelligence features, now known as Alexa+.
This decision raises fresh privacy concerns, especially given Amazon's recent rollout of Alexa+. The move comes after previous scrutiny of Alexa's privacy implications, including a US$25 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in 2023 over children's privacy violations.