Amazon Echo devices have become fixtures in millions of homes, but the privacy controls that ship with them are not set up to protect you by default. Federal regulators have already proven that point in court, and a major policy change taking effect on March 28, 2025, will eliminate one of the few options users had to keep voice data off Amazon’s servers. If you own an Echo, these five settings deserve your attention right now.
Why Federal Regulators Forced Amazon’s Hand
The urgency behind these changes is not hypothetical. The FTC and DOJ jointly charged Amazon with violating children’s privacy rules by keeping kids’ Alexa voice recordings indefinitely and undermining parents’ attempts to delete that data. The government’s complaint, filed under case number 192 3128, alleged that Amazon retained not just audio clips but also transcripts and geolocation data tied to child profiles, even after parents explicitly requested deletion. According to the DOJ, the company then allegedly used that unlawfully retained material to train and improve the Alexa algorithm, effectively turning kids’ voices into a product development resource without proper consent.
Amazon agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty and accept injunctive relief, with a Stipulated Order entered in July 2023 requiring new safeguards for children’s privacy. In plain language, the enforcement action says Amazon failed to protect Alexa users’ and children’s data, and that consumers should not assume the default settings are safe. The agency’s consumer advice arm has underscored that people need to actively customize their Alexa privacy controls and disable features they do not need, rather than relying on Amazon’s promises after the fact. That recommendation carries extra weight now because one of the strongest privacy options available to Echo owners is about to disappear entirely.
The “Do Not Send Recordings” Option Is Going Away
Starting March 28, 2025, Amazon is ending the setting that let certain Echo devices avoid sending voice recordings to the cloud. On supported models, this “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option allowed Alexa to process some requests locally, keeping the audio on the device instead of transmitting it to Amazon’s servers. Amazon has told customers that expanded AI capabilities require cloud processing and that removing the option is part of a broader shift toward more powerful features. The company confirmed the change through direct emails and public statements, and it applies to specific devices that previously advertised local processing as a privacy benefit.
This is where the current coverage often understates the impact. Framing the move as a minor tweak to a niche feature ignores that the removal of local processing eliminates the only technical guarantee users had that their voice never left the room. Once every command is routed through Amazon’s servers, all remaining privacy protections depend on policies, contracts, and enforcement rather than hard technical limits. That distinction is crucial, especially in households with children: there is a big difference between data that is never collected and data that is collected first and promised to be deleted later. The FTC’s earlier allegations make clear that when companies get those promises wrong, the harm can persist for years.
Three Settings to Change in the Alexa App Today
With local processing off the table for many devices, the controls inside the Alexa app become your primary line of defense. Start in the Alexa Privacy section and select the option not to save voice recordings. Amazon has highlighted this choice as part of a broader suite of privacy controls that also include automatic deletion windows and tools to delete recordings by date range or by device. When you tell Alexa not to save recordings, Amazon still processes your request but does not retain the audio file afterward, reducing the risk that old clips can be misused or exposed later. The tradeoff is that features such as Voice ID and deeply personalized responses may work less reliably because they depend on past recordings.
Next, turn off the “Help Improve Amazon Services and Develop New Features” toggle. When this setting is enabled, Amazon employees and contractors may review samples of your interactions as part of quality assurance and machine learning workflows. In response to public scrutiny a few years ago, the company introduced a no-human-review option so that people could opt out of this type of sampling, but that protection is not switched on by default. While you are in the same menu, disable “Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions” so that your voice messages are not fed into Amazon’s training pipeline either. Neither of these toggles is necessary for day-to-day Alexa functionality; turning them off simply narrows how much of your data can be repurposed for product development.
Disable Location Tracking and Use the Physical Mute
The FTC’s consumer guidance on Alexa specifically flags geolocation as especially sensitive information and recommends turning off nonessential tracking. In its public alert, the agency explained that Amazon misrepresented how it handled location data tied to Alexa profiles and advised families to pare back features they do not truly need. Following that privacy advice, you should review each Echo device in the app and disable location access unless you rely heavily on local weather, traffic, or nearby business searches. Reducing the amount of location data associated with your household shrinks the profile Amazon can build about where you live, work, and travel.
Just as important is using the physical microphone mute button whenever you are not actively talking to Alexa. Unlike app toggles or server-side policies, the mute button is a hardware control that cuts power to the microphones and is typically confirmed by a red light or similar indicator on the device. When it is engaged, the Echo stops listening for the wake word entirely, eliminating the risk of accidental activations or background conversations being captured. Making a habit of muting the device overnight, during sensitive conversations, or whenever you are away from home gives you a simple, verifiable layer of protection that does not depend on trusting any company’s software updates.
Where to Find Official Guidance and How to Stay Vigilant
Because Amazon’s policies and technical capabilities continue to evolve, it is worth checking official sources periodically to see whether new options or obligations have been introduced. The enforcement actions against Alexa are documented on the Federal Trade Commission website, which also maintains broader resources on how companies must handle children’s data and what rights families have when things go wrong. For Spanish-speaking households, the agency operates a dedicated portal at Consumidor.ftc.gov that explains these issues in accessible language and offers step-by-step tips for adjusting privacy settings on connected devices.
Ultimately, no combination of settings can turn an always-listening smart speaker into a perfectly private appliance. What you can do is minimize the amount of data collected, shorten how long it is stored, and limit how widely it is shared inside a large tech company. That means turning off unnecessary features, using automatic deletion aggressively, muting microphones when they are not needed, and revisiting your choices whenever major policy changes, like the end of the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option, take effect. By treating Echo devices as powerful networked microphones rather than neutral household gadgets, you can make more informed decisions about when they belong in the room and when they should stay silent.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
