Amazon is discontinuing a feature that allowed users of some of its Echo smart speakers to choose not to send their voice recordings to the cloud. According to an email the company sent to their users, the feature that allowed select Echos to process Alexa requests locally on the device will be disabled on March 28.
The move is seen as connected to the launch of its generative AI-powered Alexa Plus, which is slated to be released later this month. “As we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud, we have decided to support this feature no longer,” the email shared by one user on Reddit states.
Amazon eventually confirmed the change in an email to The Verge. The company’s spokesperson, Lauren Raemhild, stated the matter. “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,” Raemhild wrote.
“Customers can continue to choose from robust tools and controls, including the option not to save their voice recordings. We’ll continue learning from customer feedback and building privacy features on their behalf,” the statement further reads.
There’s still an option
As Raemhild mentioned in the email, a user can still have Amazon delete voice recordings after they are sent to the cloud. Those who have the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option turned on will also have the “Do Not Save Recordings” option available after the upgrade.
This means that the recordings will be sent to and processed in the cloud and then deleted once Alexa deals with the request.
I would like to let you know that local processing of voice recordings was only available on three Amazon Echo devices: Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15. The feature was available only for customers in the US with devices set to English.
According to The Verge, Home Assistant’s new Voice PE is worth considering if someone is looking for a non-cloud-dependent voice assistanIt.
