The rise of smart assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa has created some serious privacy concerns. But they should come as no surprise. According to two researchers who studied the ecosystem of Alexa skills, the devices only record one percent of interactions. The recordings are anonymous and Amazon employees don’t have access to your location, device identifiers, or personal information. Regardless, you should trust your Alexa device. Here are the privacy concerns you should keep in mind when using your Alexa system.
Amazon has released Alexa, a voice-automated assistant that can perform thousands of time-consuming tasks. Users enjoy throwing commands to the speaker, which responds to their requests. Alexa can answer questions ranging from the weather to booking a restaurant. However, some users worry about the privacy implications of using their virtual assistant. The good news is that there are ways to mitigate these risks. Here’s how.
Alexa is based on apps, so it is possible to install apps for it. Amazon sells about 100 million Alexa devices. There are also more than 100,000 Alexa skills created by third-party developers. Unfortunately, many of these apps don’t have any privacy policies, and it’s possible for you to unintentionally share your information with the wrong developer. So, if you’re worried about Alexa’s privacy, don’t buy one yet!
Amazon is working to protect user privacy by manually reviewing the transcripts. However, it also says that it annotates only a small percentage of those recordings. Ultimately, users should make sure that they disable their Alexa devices whenever they are not using them. Another good idea is to check out the reviews of the apps before you download them. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. You should also consider placing your Alexa device in a more private area.
