Similar to older virtual assistants, Alexa has long provided users with the option to opt out of telemetry, which helped alleviate concerns about Amazon collecting personal data. However, this is set to change. In a significant shift, Alexa will no longer process requests locally. Instead, all recordings from interactions with Echo devices will be sent to Amazon, and users will no longer have the ability to disable this feature. Here’s what you need to know.
In an email to Echo customers, Amazon announced that starting March 28, the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option for Alexa will be removed. From that point forward, every interaction with Alexa on Echo devices will be transmitted to Amazon for processing, with no opt-out available.
We are contacting you to inform you that the Alexa feature “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” will be discontinued starting March 28th. As we enhance Alexa’s capabilities with new Generative AI features, we have made the decision to no longer support this option.
For those unfamiliar, Amazon recently launched Alexa+, its first consumer-facing generative large language model (LLM). The discontinuation of local processing for Alexa requests is likely tied to Amazon’s efforts to train its AI model. If you’re an Alexa user, you’ll now have to accept these changes or stop using Alexa altogether.
While we’re not here to defend Amazon’s decision, it’s worth noting that other AI services like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity also collect data to train their models. However, some of these platforms still offer users the option to opt out of data collection.
In the email to users, Amazon reassured customers that Alexa voice requests are always encrypted within its secure cloud. It’s clear that Amazon is making a significant bet on Alexa+, especially given the assistant’s somewhat rocky history in gaining widespread adoption both within and outside its ecosystem.
What do you think about Alexa shifting to cloud-based request processing and the removal of the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option? Let us know in the comments below.
