Technology is amazing.

It helps us stay connected with loved ones. It enables scientific breakthroughs like Microsoft’s recent announcement of a new type of matter. And it makes it possible for more people than ever before to easily know more about us and to do more things with that information than ever before.

It can almost makes you want to hide under a rock.

But if we’re smart, we can control the data we provide. We can use seemingly magical technologies like voice assistants and artificial intelligence and the internet with an expectation of the privacy everyone deserves.

You must demand no less than the ability to easily control what you share and how it is used with every service or product you encounter.

And that goes double for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

I do use Amazon Prime. The convenience of having a product I want at my door in a couple days is unbeatable. I also love being able to delay delivery in order to get digital credit which can be turned into ebooks for the Kindle.

I have not used Amazon Alexa, its voice assistant. I haven’t used it because I didn’t want what happened in my home recorded and sent to Amazon’s cloud service for it to do with as it saw fit.

I do use Siri, thanks largely to Apple’s commitment to privacy. Also, I’ve yet to detect an instance of being served an ad based on something I recently either engaged about with Siri or talked about near an Apple device.

It’s Always Listening

That’s important to me because I know Siri and Alexa are always listening. It’s how they detect their respective wake words so they can activate and enage when needed.

However, according to a summer 2024 survey by Secure Data Recovery, almost half of Americans, 49%, were not aware voice assistants always listen for wake words.

Given that level of naivete about devices people allow into their homes, it’s realistic to assume most people do not take steps to protect their privacy.

You should. In fact, you must, because today a bad actor can turn a recording of your voice into a deepfake able to convince an elderly parent to part with a chunk of their life’s savings.

Taking The Plunge

This week, Amazon announced the pending release of Amazon Alexa+ which appears to be a leap forward in terms of features and functionality. If the demo is to be believed, it leapfrogs over Siri and other assistants in agentic capabilities like making dinner reservations or purchasing concert tickets.

Because I can’t live under a rock, I am eager to engage with and understand artificial intelligence, and Alexa+ could be used by up to 100 million active users, at least according to an estimate by Bank of America analyst Justin Post, I took the plunge.

A new Echo Dot arrived Saturday.

Buyer, and User, Beware

I am not a Pollyanna.

I know that in 2023, Amazon paid a $25 million civil penalty to settle charges in complaints brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. In the complaints, the FTC and DOJ said “Amazon prevented parents from exercising their deletion rights under the [Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act] Rule, kept sensitive voice and geolocation data for years, and used it for its own purposes, while putting data at risk of harm from unnecessary access.”

In paying the fine, Amazon admitted no wrongdoing, but it did agree to:

• identify all inactive Alexa Child Profiles and delete data associated with them
• delete all geolocation and voice data when requested to do so
• clearly and conspicuously link to retention disclosures for voice and geolocation data
• maintain for a decade or more the safeguards agreed to in the order had been adhered to.

You can read the entire order on the FTC website, or at the identical copy of the order on my site.

I know what I’m getting myself into, but perhaps the devil you know truly is better than the one you don’t.

What’s Next

The Dot’s in the box. In my house.

Over the next week, I’ll set it up then lock down every Amazon privacy and ad targeting setting I can find starting with this walkthrough of Alexa privacy settings.

I’ll share that rundown soon, then keep going as new Alexa+ features come online.