Amazon Alexa · Privacy Policy

Alexa & Echo Privacy — Plain-Language Summary

What happens when you talk to Alexa? Your Echo device listens only for the wake word ("Alexa," "Amazon," "Echo," "Computer," or "Ziggy") and does nothing else by default. Once it hears the wake word — or you press the action button — a blue light appears and your voice is recorded and sent to Amazon's cloud. A tiny sliver of audio just before the wake word is also captured. Amazon transcribes your request, uses it to answer you, and keeps both the recording and the transcript tied to your account.

Can you control or delete your data? Yes, but with limits. You can review and delete voice recordings, transcripts, and typed requests through the Alexa app (More > Alexa Privacy) or amazon.com/alexaprivacysettings. However, even after you request deletion, Amazon may still use the data while the deletion is processing — and that can take an unspecified amount of time. Deleting recordings won't remove data held by third-party Alexa skill developers, de-identified copies of your data, or records of actions Alexa took (like orders placed or reminders set).

How is your data used to train AI? Amazon uses your interactions to train and improve Alexa's speech understanding. This includes a supervised machine-learning process where human reviewers listen to a small sample of real customer recordings. You can opt out of this use of your voice recordings in the Alexa Privacy settings. Amazon also states your Alexa shopping interactions may be used to improve broader Amazon search and product systems.

Hardware mute is available. Every Echo has a physical microphone disable button. When pressed, the microphone power is physically cut and a red light confirms it — Alexa cannot hear you at all in this state.