Amazon employees are listening to what you say to Alexa

LEARN HOW TO STOP THEM FROM LISTENING TO YOUR CONVERSATIONS

On Wednesday, a report from Bloomberg revealed that thousands of Amazon employees are listening to what people say when they talk to Alexa.

Amazon said it uses these conversations to improve Alexa’s “understanding of human speech.” Bloomberg’s report said that the voice snippets are tied to device serial numbers and the owner’s first name.

But there’s a way to prevent Amazon employees from listening in. Sources have dug through the Alexa app, and the option to share this type of information with Amazon was on by default. You can turn it off.

In the Alexa app, which is available for iPhones and Android, the Alexa Privacy settings page says this:

To turn these settings off, do this:

Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button on the top-left of the screen.
Select “Alexa Account.”
Choose “Alexa Privacy.”
Select “Manage how your data improves Alexa.”
Turn off the button next to “Help Develop New Features.”
Turn off the button next to your name under “Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions.”

We never knew these settings were on in the first place, and it’s entirely possible Amazon could still use other data. But at least this gives you more control over what messages from Alexa are sent to Amazon in the first place.