All voice recordings of commands or queries given to Amazon voice assistant Alexa on the company’s Echo devices will go to the Amazon cloud starting March 28.
Currently, three versions of the Echo — the fourth-generation Echo Dot, Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15 — have the option to process the audio in the device as opposed to sending it to the cloud, according to The Verge.
Starting in two weeks, customers will be switched to the “don’t save recordings” setting, meaning that while voice data will go to the Amazon cloud, it will be deleted after Alexa processes requests or questions.
Amazon informed consumers in an email Friday that the option to not send their voice recordings to the cloud would be going away starting on March 28, according to Ars Technica.
In the email, Amazon said that new artificial intelligence capabilities for Alexa necessitated getting rid of the local voice processing setting.
“As we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative Al features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud, we have decided to no longer support this feature,” the company wrote, according to The Verge.
Amazon says privacy remains a priority.
“The Alexa experience is designed to protect our customers’ privacy and keep their data secure, and that’s not changing. We’re focusing on the privacy tools and controls that our customers use most and work well with generative AI experiences that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud,” spokeswoman Lauren Raemhild told The Verge.
The retail giant gave a heads-up that, if the option to not save voice recordings is used, Alexa wouldn’t be able to create an individualized vocal ID for various users of the device. Voice IDs are a major part of the marketing for the upcoming AI-aided Alexa+, according to Ars Technica.
The new Alexa service will cost $19.99 as a standalone when it launches but will be free for Amazon Prime members.
The company said in a release last month that Alexa+ will roll out for early access in the coming weeks, particularly to customers with Echo Show 8, 10, 15 and 21 devices, followed by a larger rollout in the months ahead.
