In pretty much the same way as Apple and Google mandated their policies and introduced an option to allow its users to delete their voice recordings from the companies’ servers, Amazon also followed their footsteps and started offering a similar option for its voice assistant (Alexa) users. However, at their part, the companies have always confined with their statement that the collected voice recordings are utilized to improve their products and services and better assist users with catered results.
Although, irrespective of that, it is still hard to trust these data-giants with personal information. And taking into consideration some recent events in the past six months or so, which suggest that Amazon has been eavesdropping on some Alexa users and retaining their voice recordings even after they have been processed, deleting your saved voice recordings and disabling the option to keep your future voice recordings seems a fairly good option.
So, in case you decide to delete your voice recordings from Alexa, there are two different ways to do this.
Method 1: Delete via Amazon Alexa app
1. Open the Alexa app on your phone and sign in (if you are not).
2. Hit the hamburger menu on the top-left and select Settings.
3. Next, tap on Account Settings and on the next screen, tap on History.
4. Here, below Date, Range, select All History and tap on Delete All Recordings for All History.
Method 2: Delete via Web Browser
1. Open Amazon on your web browser and sign in to your account
2. Next, go to Your Account and select Content and devices.
3. Now, select Alexa Privacy and under Date Range, select All History.
4. Finally, hit Delete All Recordings for All History.
Once you have deleted your voice recordings from your account, it’s all up to Amazon. And you need to take their word and believe that your voice recordings have been deleted for real. In case you’re wondering what the company has to say in this, here’s their statement, “When a customer deletes a voice recording, we delete the transcripts associated with the customer’s account of both of the customer’s requests and Alexa’s response.”
Further, to ensure that Alexa does not record your future voice interactions with it, you can disable it from recording your conversations. To do this, open the Alex app and go into Settings > Alexa Privacy > Manage Your Alexa Data, and from here, turn off the toggle that says ‘Use Voice Recordings to Improve Amazon Services to Develop New Features’.