Amazon has just admitted that data obtained from its popular Alexa and Echo devices may not always be deleted, even after users choose to delete all audio files.
“We retain customers’ voice recordings and transcripts until the customer chooses to delete them,” said Amazon, also answering more questions regarding the data. The company admitted to not always deleting text transcripts of Alexa conversations, even after users delete the audio equivalent. According to Amazon, this is because the company has to remove the data from various parts of its worldwide data storage systems, and also because Amazon will sometimes choose to hold on to the data without informing the user.
Brian Huseman, Vice President of public policy at Amazon said that the company is currently in an “ongoing effort to ensure those transcripts do not remain in any of Alexa’s other storage systems.” As of now, there’s been no change to the way Alexa holds on to data transcripts, but in a letter to American senator Chris Coons, the company said “The American people deserve to understand how their personal data is being used by tech companies, and I will continue to work with both consumers and companies to identify how to best protect Americans’ personal information.” Stay tunes as any more updates surface.
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