Amazon Echo users will no longer have the possibility of processing their Alexa requests locally, which means that all their voice records will be sent to the company’s cloud.
ARS Technica reports Amazon sent an email to customers who “do not send vocal records” activated on their speakers and displays Echo Smart on Friday, indicating that the company would stop supporting the functionality of confidentiality on March 28.
“While we continue to extend Alexa’s capacities with generative AI features that are based on the treatment power of the secure cloud of Amazon, we decided not to take care of this functionality,” said the email.
This occurs while Amazon deploys a new version of its assistant AI controlled by voice, now known as Alexa +. Consumers and regulators have raised concerns about Alexa’s confidentiality implications in the past, Amazon agreeing to pay a settlement of $ 25 million in 2023 with the Federal Trade Commission against children’s privacy.