People are just now become suspect to the fact their smart speaker is may be listening to what they say. Even more alarming is the fact that the speakers themselves can also record everything that you say and share the recordings with the employees of the company that manufactures the speaker. So, how do you prevent your smart speakers from recording you?
The official reason given is because the company will be able to analyze all of the responses of their virtual assistants and “manually review them to help improve our services.” Basically, someone can listening to anything and everything you say.
Thankfully, companies such as Google and Apple are implementing new privacy settings that permit people to opt out of enabling any third parties to review voice recordings for Alexa and Assistant. Additionally, Apple and Google have suspended their grading programs while they await a review, with Apple promising to soon launch new privacy settings that will enable users to prevent others from hearing their voice recordings they input to Siri.
Here are the ways in which you can prevent your smart speakers from recording you and sharing your conversations.
Amazon Alexa
When using Amazon Alexa, begin by opening the Alexa app for either iOS or Android. From there, tap Menu, then Settings, followed by Alexa Privacy. Then, go to How Your Data Improves Alexa. Once you get there, turn off the toggle next to Help Improve Amazon Services and Develop New Features.
Additionally, you can also take the step of blocking Amazon from being able to review any and all transcripts of messages that you send with Alexa. All you need to do is disable all of the toggles next to Alexa users, which you can do by going to the bottom of the screen. Furthermore, in the event that you wish to either delete or review your previous Alexa recordings, you can simply go back to the Alexa Privacy screen, then tap on Review Voice History.
Google Assistant
When using Google Assistant, begin by opening the Google Home app. From there, tap on Account, then More Settings, followed by Your Data in the Assistant, then finally Voice & Audio Activity. Next, you will then want to turn off the toggle located next to Voice & Audio Activity.
You can also take the step of tapping on Manage Activity, which will enable you to delete and review either all or some of your voice recordings through Google Assistant.
Siri
For Siri, an opt-out toggle has not yet been created by Apple for the app’s grading program. However, it will be available in a future software update. Thankfully, there is a way to delete all of your most recent conversations.
To do this, begin by tapping on Settings, then General, followed by Keyboards. From there, tap on Enable Dictation, which will turn this option off. After this, go back and select the Siri & Search option before then turning off the two Ask Siri toggles, which are Listen for “Hey Siri” and Press Home/Side Button for Siri. When these are both turned off, you will receive a prompt asking you if you want to turn off Siri, which is something that will remove all of your data from Apple’s servers. If you do, then your Siri history will be deleted instantly.
Thank you for visiting Eye See You Now’s blog, an Austin SEO company. If you need help getting your business viewed online, contact us for a free consultation for your website, social media, and online advertising needs.