Everything You Say to Your Echo Will Soon Be Sent to Amazon, and You Can’t Opt Out

https://www.wired.com/story/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-march-28/

Amazon is killing its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature on March 28 as the company aims to bolster Alexa+, its new subscription assistant.

ArsTechnica: Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/

You might as well throw your Echo and Alexa-powered devices in the trash like you should have done years ago.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/

Cory (@pluralistic) with a banger of a post:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/15/altering-the-deal/#telescreen

And this factoid:

"Congress hasn't passed a consumer #privacy law since 1988, when the Video Privacy Protection Act banned video store clerks from disclosing which VHS cassettes you brought home."

Amazon is discontinuing a privacy-focused feature that allowed select Echo devices to process voice requests locally, meaning all voice recordings will now be sent to the cloud before being deleted.

https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2025/amazon-to-remove-privacy-feature-from-echo

I was inspired by #Amazon's latest tricks with Alexa but it could have been anything really.
#privacy

Surveillance Report 218 has landed. This week: #Amazon removes the option to keep #Echo voice recordings local, #SaudiArabia purchases #Pokemon Go, and #Brazil forces #Apple to allow sideloading on #iPhone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtwv6tBoZWE

Amazon Alexa: All voice recordings are to be stored in the cloud and analyzed

Amazon has informed Echo users that they can no longer process Alexa requests locally. Voice recordings are stored in the cloud by default.

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Amazon-Alexa-All-voice-recordings-are-to-be-stored-in-the-cloud-and-analyzed-10317178.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

After Amazon's news this week,
I feel the need to share this advice from my Privacy Guides article again:

Notify guests if you are
using a smart speaker

If you are using a smart speaker device in your home such as Amazon's Echo (Alexa), Apple's HomePod (Siri), Google's Nest,

Inform your guests about it when they enter your home

These devices have the capacity
to record all conversations, and there has already been instances of accidental privacy invasion reported about this

Even if you don't mind yourself,
offer your guests to UNPLUG your smart speaker while they are visiting you

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/03/10/the-privacy-of-others/#notify-guests-if-you-are-using-a-smart-speaker

Via @pluralistic

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/15/altering-the-deal/

#data #privacy #databrokers #amazon #usa #uspol #canada
#infosec

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳"

https://www.seangoedecke.com/good-times-are-over

Looks like it might be about time to throw those Echos out!

Amazon is getting rid of the option for Echo devices to process Alexa voice requests locally

https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/amazon-is-getting-rid-of-the-option-for-echo-devices-to-process-alexa-requests-locally-182627101.html?src=rss

If you have an Amazon Echo, Ring, or other corpo snitchware installed in your home - you should sell it or smash it with a hammer

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/

Ich möchte wie viele von amerikanischen (und großen Monopolen) Konzernen wegkommen.

Ein zentrale Herausforderung für mich ist dabei #Amazon

Das hat m.E. verschieden Gründe

Der erste und schwerwiegenste ist Verfügbarkeit (oder Auswahl)

Ich lese viele englische (Fach)Bücher, speziell Software Entwicklung und Cybersicherheit. Leider kenne ich da keinen deutschen oder europäischen Anbieter der eine ähnliche Auswahl hat. Bei Computer Zubehör ist es ähnlich.

Zweite Grund: Preis
Bei den oben genannten Bücher kommt noch dazu, dass der Preis bei anderen Anbietern (oder auch dem lokalen Buchhandel) deutlich höher ist (5-10€ pro Buch). Ist ja auch verständlich, wenn sie es extra bei einem ausländischen Großhändler bestellen müssen, tut aber trotzdem weh.

Dritter Grund ist vielleicht etwas überraschend,
PDF Rechnung

Ich finde es so angenehm Rechnungen in einem digitalen Format (an der selben Stelle) vorliegen zu haben. Kein Verlieren von Thermopapier Belegen wenn man die dann irgendwann aus dem Portemonnaie geholt hat. Kein Rätseln wofür der fast unleserlich Beleg war, wenn man die Steuererklärung macht.

Oh, es gibt noch einen 4 Grund
Und der ist, Umtausch/Rückgabe (speziell bei Computer-Zubehör). Leider ist das bei lokalen Geschäften ist katastrophal. Ist ist keine Rückgabe möglich ist nur gegen einen Gutschein. Das ist bei Dingen von denen ich nicht weiß ob die so funktionieren wie ich es will ein Ausschlusskriterium. Z.B. spiele ich mit den Gedanken mit Powerline Adapter anzuschaffen um mein neu zu verbessern. Ich weiß aber nicht ob sie funktionieren werden und wie hoch die Übertragungsrate ist.
Und ja, Amazon wird bei Rückgabe schlechter und es ist absurd dass viele Artikel nach der Rückgabe einfach vernichtet werden

Bin für Tipps dankbar
(Und kenne https://codeberg.org/phranck/Amazon-Alternativen)

#unplugtrump
#fedipower

"Amazon has a sky-high price/earnings ratio – about triple the ratio of other retailers, like Target. That scorching P/E ratio reflects a belief by investors that Amazon will continue growing. Companies with very high p/e ratios have an unbeatable advantage relative to mature competitors – they can buy things with their stock, rather than paying cash for them... Being able to buy things with stock instead of money is a powerful advantage, because money is scarce and exogenous (Amazon must acquire money from someone else, like a customer), while new Amazon stock can be conjured into existence by typing zeroes into a spreadsheet.

But the downside here is that every growth stock eventually stops growing... That's where "AI" comes in. The hype around AI serves an important material need for tech companies. By lumping an incoherent set of poorly understood technologies together into a hot buzzword, tech companies can bamboozle investors into thinking that there's plenty of growth in their future."

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/15/altering-the-deal/#telescreen

Starting on March 28, Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. In other words, everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon. @ArsTechnica reports:

https://flip.it/cGX-fa

Alexa will send all recordings to Amazon

In an email sent to customers today, Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. Amazon apparently sent the email to users with “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo. Starting on March 28, recordings of everythi

https://vowe.net/2025/03/15/alexa-will-send-all-recordings-to-amazon/

With just a few week's notice, Amazon is telling folks with Echo devices that the setting that lets smart speakers & displays process Alexa requests locally is disappearing. Starting March 28 all requests will be recorded and sent to Amazon's cloud servers, whether you're using Alexa+ or just plain old Alexa. #Amazon #AmazonEcho #Alexa #privacy http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/