The Amazon Echo may have been on a lot of Christmas lists this year - but if Santa brought you one of these popular devices, experts have warned against keeping them in certain parts of the house.
The Echo gadgets, more commonly known by the name of their AI assistant Alexa, can do everything from give you updates on the news or weather to setting alarms and playing your favourite song using voice control. However, some users may not know that the devices are capable of recording conversations around them.
Dr Hannah Fry, a mathematician and expert on tech company algorithms at University College London, advised that Alexa should be treated the same way as a guest in your home and kept away from private rooms such as the bedroom and bathroom, the Liverpool Echo reports. Dr Fry explained: "This technology is activated by a trigger word but it keeps recording for a short period afterwards. People accept that, but we should all spend more time thinking about what it means for us."
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Amazon previously confirmed that staff sometimes listen to customer conversations through Alexa, saying that these recordings are used in research to help improve the device's understanding of human speech. A report by news site Bloomberg suggested many users are unaware people may be listening in to the conversations they have with their Echo nearby, with staff each able to review up to 1,000 audio clips a day.
Experts on Forbes' tech panel also reiterated how important it is for households to be aware that what they say around their Alexa may not be for their ears only. Carolyn Jenkins from EPSoft Technologies advised: "Presume everything you say is being listened to and recorded, and adjust the settings you can from there until you are comfortable. "
Brad Thomas from Prophecy International added: "These technologies are great time-savers and make life easier, but they also make it easy to inadvertently share private information without thinking. These devices are always on, collecting data about you and your habits to better provide services—but there is no filter, and they simply collect it all. This makes it too easy to share private data with big tech that you did not intend to share."
To delete conversations from your Alexa's history, visit the Alexa app, go to Settings > Alexa Privacy > Manage Your Alexa Data. From here, select Choose How Long to Save Recordings > Don't Save Recordings > Confirm. Next, scroll down to Help Improve Alexa, and switch the Use of Voice Recordings to off.
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