Amazon will soon let you ask Alexa to delete your voice recordings — here's how
- Amazon Alexa will soon allow you to delete the voice recordings it saves when you talk to it, by speaking one of two commands.
- Alexa records your conversations, and a report from Bloomberg in April said Amazon employees listen to them and use them to improve Alexa's speech recognition.
- Two options will be available: "Alexa, delete everything I said today" and "Alexa, delete what I just said."
Amazon on Wednesday announced that it will soon allow people to ask Alexa to delete some of the things it saves when you ask it questions. It will launch with a new "Alexa Privacy Hub" that will give users more information on "how Echo devices are designed and the controls you have over your Alexa experience," Amazon said.
Amazon stores every conversation you have with Alexa after you speak the "Alexa" wake word and you currently have to open the Alexa app on your phone to delete your voice history.
As of today, you can say: "Alexa delete everything I said today." In the coming weeks, you'll also be able to say "Alexa, delete what I just said." However, the feature won't let you delete your entire voice history, but you should still use it if you're concerned about having your recordings stored on Amazon's servers.
Amazon has thousands of workers around the world listening to Alexa conversations, according to a report from Bloomberg in April. Amazon transcribes those conversations and shares them to help improve Alexa's voice recognition, the report said. You can turn off the option that automatically sends voice snippets to Amazon, however.
Correction: This article has been updated with the correct timing for when the new Alexa features will be launched.