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If you have an Amazon Echo device, you’ve probably had it respond accidentally when it thought it heard “Alexa,” even though you didn’t say that word. Maybe your Echo heard a sound from the TV or radio. Perhaps it mis-heard you saying a different word that Echo thought was “Alexa.”
When Alexa misunderstands a conversation, the result can be humorous. Last night in our house, Echo started playing Al Green’s song, “Love and Happiness” even though we hadn’t been talking to Alexa.
We all laughed and thought that was sweet.
But one couple in Portland, Oregon didn’t think Alexa’s misinterpretation was sweet at all. According to Portland TV station KIRO, the couple’s Echo device recorded a private conversation and sent that recording to one of their contacts who was in a different state.
The family receiving the recorded conversation let the Portland couple know what Alexa had done and sent them the recording. The Portland couple was quite upset and unplugged their Echo devices to prevent this from happening again.
Amazon responded by saying that the incident was caused by an unfortunate series of events:
Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like ‘Alexa. Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a ‘send message’ request. At which point, Alexa said out loud ‘To whom?’ At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customer’s contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, ‘[contact name], right?’ Alexa then interpreted background conversation as ‘right’. As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.”
This video from KIRO explains what happened to the Portland couple and gives Amazon’s response:
Fortunately the Portland couple’s conversation was only about hardwood floors and not about any sensitive or embarrassing topics. However the incident does raise questions about how private our conversations are when we have an Echo (or other smart speaker) in our homes. Could our conversations be recorded and sent to others by Alexa?
What conversations of ours has Alexa recorded? There is an easy way to find out…
How to See What Alexa Has Recorded
To see what Alexa has recorded, open the Alexa app on your smart phone or tablet. Tap the Home button.
The screen will show you conversation cards of what you have asked Alexa to do and her responses. In the Alexa app you will see cards of your past conversations with Alexa, including your questions and her answers. Scroll through the cards to see the conversations over time.
You should see only what you (and others in your house) have asked Alexa to do. You may see searches, recipes, smart home commands, weather, games you’ve played and anything else you’ve asked of Alexa.
Check out => Echo Buttons – Making Alexa More Fun!
But you may also see unfamiliar Alexa requests….
How to Delete an Alexa Conversation Card
If you find an Alexa conversation that seems out of place, you may want to delete that conversation. You may also want to delete a conversation card you’d rather not have on the Alexa app on your phone. (No judging here.)
To delete an Alexa conversation card, tap the Down arrow ∨ at the bottom of the conversation card, next to “More.”
There you will see more information about the conversation, including an opportunity to give feedback about Alexa.
If you want to delete the conversation card, tap “Remove card.” The conversation card will be removed from the app.
Also see => How to Make Phone Calls and Video Calls Using Amazon’s Alexa
How to Hear What Alexa Has Recorded
You can also listen to what was asked of Alexa in a voice recording. Open the Alexa app and tap on the Home icon in the bottom menu bar. Tap on a conversation card. Tap the play button to hear the voice recording of an Alexa question.
You can play the recording to listen to the exact words that were said to compare them to how Alexa interpreted them. You can also listen to hear whose voice asked the question.
How to Delete an Alexa Voice Recording
You can delete an Alexa voice recording or delete all of the voice recordings for your Alexa account. Note that Amazon cautions, “Deleting voice recordings may degrade your Alexa experience.”
Important => Deleting an Alexa conversation card will not delete the voice recording of that conversation.
Open the Alexa app and tap the menu icon (three stacked bars) in the upper left corner of the screen. Choose Settings from the menu. Scroll down to History and tap it.
There you will see your conversations with Alexa. Tap on the conversation, then tap on the arrow to play the recording.
You can delete the voice recording by tapping DELETE VOICE RECORDINGS.
Deleting a voice recording on the Alexa app also deletes the conversation card for that recording.
How to Delete All of Your Alexa Voice Recordings
To delete all of your Alexa voice recordings, you could either delete each one individually or use an easier method.
Go to Amazon.com Manage Your Content and Devices page, then click the Your Devices tab. Scroll down to the Echo device. Click the three buttons next to the name of the device. A window will appear.
Click Manage voice recordings. You’ll see this window below:
Click Delete to delete all voice recordings for this device. You can also call Amazon Customer Service to have them delete all voice recordings for your Alexa conversations.
Poll
What do you think of Alexa’s glitch in recording and sending a private conversation to a contact? Does that make you less likely to use Alexa?
Vote in The Wonder of Tech poll to share your opinion:
Your Thoughts
Are you concerned about Alexa recording private conversations? What do you think Amazon should do to prevent this glitch from happening again? Did you find any unfamiliar conversations in your Alexa app?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
