Apart from Facebook keeping hold of our personal data, Amazon, too, performs the same deed as its virtual assistant — Alexa — has been caught keeping users’ voice recordings. Even though Amazon introduced the delete history feature, it seems like the voice assistant still keeps the user data.
As per a letter by Amazon to US Senator Chris Coons, it is suggested that Alexa stores users’ transcripts and voice recordings indefinitely. But when the user deletes the voice recording, the company deletes the associated transcripts.
Still, Amazon preserves the details of the transaction, for example, when you order a pizza or request an Uber. This data might be required for the proper functioning of an Alexa skill.
To recall, Senator Coons wrote a letter to Jeff Bezos back in May asking for explanations on how Alexa deals with users’ voice recordings. Coons received a reply from Amazon’s vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman.
The letter further states that Amazon is making sure users’ data doesn’t remain on Alexa’s other storage systems. However, it keeps some information such as users’ order history, alarms, reminders, and more.
As reported by CNET, Amazon even has an explanation for keeping such information and said, “Customers would not want or expect deletion of the voice recording to delete the underlying data or prevent Alexa from performing the requested task.”
Previously, it was revealed that Amazon employees around the world collect and listen to users’ voice recordings to make Alexa understand languages and slang better.
The list of man-handling user data is long; in the past, Alexa recorded a couple’s personal information and even sent it to one of their contacts, and sent a user’s data to another user.
The letter received by Coons did not really help him have faith in Amazon, and it raises questions from users’ point of view as well.
Of course, it has already put Amazon in a negative light and we are not sure if we can trust it fully. I hope Amazon has a better way of doing things and it doesn’t become the second Facebook.
What are your thoughts on the same? Comment below!
