Not today, Amazon: Your Echo will hold onto your voice recordings for analysis unless you tell it not to. In your Alexa app, choose More > Settings > Alexa Privacy > Review Voice History. Here, you can delete recordings to your heart’s content.
Is your car tracking you? Here's how to find out and put a stop to it
Whether you drive a classic or a 10-year-old car, safety should still be your chief concern. Here are five ways tech can modernize your old car.
New cars are computers on wheels. Don’t believe me? The average vehicle nowadays has over 1,400 microchips in it. Because your car is connected, it can also collect a lot of data about you. Your car is like your phone, computer or tablet now — always listening.
Here’s what you need to know and how to stop this privacy invasion.
What do they want to know?
A new online tool shows all the info your car has on you. It’s called the Vehicle Privacy Report and is made by a company called Privacy4Cars. All you have to do is enter your car’s VIN and the tool spits out all the privacy policies about the company that built your vehicle.
Here’s what you may find when you plug in your VIN:
- Identifiers that show who you are.
- Location data that shows where you are and where you went.
- Biometrics, which includes data collected by your car’s microphone and camera.
- Voice recordings collected by your voice assistant in the car — do you ask for directions or make calls via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto?
- Data synced from your devices connected to the car with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB, such as smartphones and tablets.
The tool also lists who your information is shared with, such as insurance companies, the government and data brokers.
RELATED: Carmakers are charging subscriptions for a lifesaving feature
Look away, Kia drivers
We plugged in the VIN on one of my staff member’s cars, which happens to be a Kia and it gave a complete rundown.
While the car isn’t a hard drive on four wheels and doesn’t have telematics — that’s a method of monitoring vehicles with a GPS — it did say that Kia is known to collect locations, identifiers and user profiles. It also noted that the Korean carmaker shares and sells to its affiliates, service providers and government.
How to tell Alexa to delete what you say
There’s no denying it: Alexa is listening to you all the time. Every day, thousands of Amazon employees around the world analyze audio clips from users like you. Sometimes, they pick up private and personal audio.
Tap or click here to find out what your Amazon Echo can discover about your life by listening in. (Hint: It’s a lot.) Luckily, we know a trick you can use to wipe the slate clean every day.
Bad idea: Mozilla has collected more than 30,000 hours of voice recordings from volunteers worldwide. Its Common Voice project is a free public dataset anyone can use to train AI software in 180 languages. Here’s the catch: Mozilla won’t say how or who will use your voice. Don’t add yours.
Report says Alexa voice data used to send you targeted ads - How to stop it now
Have you ever wondered why Amazon often offers such great deals on its Echo smart speakers and displays? It’s easy — those gadgets are cheap because your data is far more valuable.
It’s no secret that devices powered by Alexa and other smart assistants have been known to listen in, even when they’re not supposed to be. And Amazon knows so much about you, it’s scary. Tap or click here to see what we mean.
Amazon Echo settings you need to change to protect your privacy
If you have an Amazon Echo, you know it pulls its weight around the house. You can use it to order Christmas gifts on Amazon, look up recipes while you cook and read the newest headlines. You also know it can come with a few annoying features.
This smart assistant built into your phone could be secretly recording you - How to stop it
Google is no stranger to questionable privacy procedures, with numerous concerns raised over its data-collection methods over the past few years.
While Facebook and Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, have faced similar accusations, new technology for Google Assistant makes it entirely possible for the devices to listen in on conversations without your knowledge.
Is Alexa or Google spying on your meetings? Make this change now
Virtual assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant can be a great help around the house. But within them lurks hidden dangers that could potentially put your data at risk. They are triggered with wake words, and once activated, listen for a question from you. While that might not seem dangerous, consider the process involved. Tap or click here to see how thousands of phrases trigger smart assistants.
Alexa listening more than you think - here's how often it accidentally records you
We’ve been warning for years that Alexa is listening to everything that’s happening in your home.
It’s even storing recorded audio of what you’re saying. Tap or click here to listen to your Alexa recordings. But the thing is, Alexa isn’t the only culprit. Most smart speakers actually do this — a lot.
Now Facebook wants to pay you for your voice recordings - how much can you get?
In 2019, more than a few tech companies got caught abusing their users’ trust. The most notable stories involved the companies listening in on users and recording them without warning.
Thanks to the press, this practice was widely exposed and condemned by the public. Companies like Amazon, Apple and Google all admitted their mistakes and have since changed their policies. Tap or click here see how Amazon got caught.