How to Stop Amazon From Sharing What You Say to Alexa with Contractors?

Millions of people have smart speakers like the Echo. And they are using it to let you schedule tasks such as play audiobooks, look up basic info, and what have you. Here we are going to discuss how to Stop Amazon from sharing what you say to Alexa with contractors.

Sometimes Amazon shares your privacy with contractors when you say anything to Alexa. Some users reported that Amazon Alexa not only records what you say to Alexa but also shares those recordings with contractors. It does not involve only the instructions you gave Alexa but also whatever Alexa may have picked up by coincidence.

Sometimes an Alexa-enabled device mishears what you say; it thinks it heard the ‘Alexa’ wake-up command when you didn’t intend to summon it. For example, the Spanish con us, ‘with his’ or ‘with her’, has been known to confuse Alexa into thinking someone was using the Alexa wake word.

Amazon shares all that info with contractors, and also gives them a user’s first name and Amazon account number, as well as the device’s serial number.

If this lack of privacy bothers you, there’s a way to stop Amazon from sharing what you say to Alexa with contractors

Step 1: Go to the ‘Manage my Content & Devices page’ on Amazon

Step 2: Click the option of Alexa's privacy.

Step 3: Go down to the section labeled ‘Manage How Your Data Improves Alexa’.

Step 4: Click the arrow.

Step 5: Next page you will see a blue button next to a label that reads ‘Help Develop New Features’.

Step 6: Click the blue-button to disable this feature and enhance your privacy.

Step 7: You may also see one or more blue buttons in a section labeled Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions.

Step 8: Untick those blue buttons as well.

And it does not mean that this will stop Amazon from sharing your recordings, though. According to the report ‘people who opt out of that program might still have their recordings analyzed by hand over the regular course of the review process’.

But there is a way to stop Amazon from reviewing your recordings. In the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone.

Use the Website or Alexa App -

You can visit Amazon's Alexa Privacy settings website to opt-out. Once there, do the following:

Step 1: Tap the three horizontal lines on the top left.

Step 2: Tap Settings.

Step 3: Tap Alexa's account.

Step 4: Tap Alexa Privacy.

Step 5: Tap ‘Manage How Your Data Improves Alexa.’

Step 6: Tap the switch button to the off position next to ‘Help Develop New Features.’

Step 7: Click on the switch button to the off position within ‘Use Messages To Improve Transcriptions.’

Turning off the feature might prevent new features from working properly, according to the Alexa app. But turning it off will also prevent your recordings from being sent to Amazon to be analyzed.

While Amazon says it only uses snippets of voice recordings to develop new features, the fact that things you say can be analyzed by a person could be unnerving for many users, perhaps even more so than if their speech was being analyzed by a computer.

There's also the possibility that things users never meant for Alexa to hear can be picked up, too: Alexa-enabled smart devices can pick up "false positives," where the speaker thinks it heard the "Alexa" wake-up command when a user didn't mean to summon it.

There are other features in Amazon which are not safe for you. It’s better to disable this feature as you are using it with other people, to stop Amazon From Sharing What You Say to Alexa with Contractors.
Drop-In

Alexa's Drop-In feature is a great way, for example, when you want to connect with your friends for any urgent work, you can connect. Unlike a phone call, drop-ins don't require you to "answer" the call: Your friend just speaks out of your device's speaker.

Sounds cool when you first use it, but it's easy to forget that virtual visitors once permitted will then have access to drop in anytime, unannounced. Unless you want to risk friends or family members using the feature at inopportune times, you should switch off Drop-In until you want to use it.

On the Alexa app, click Devices, choose which device you want, then click Communications. From here, you can turn off Drop-In or limit it to specific devices.