Amazon really doesn't understand how privacy and security work.

[DetlefK]

https://gizmodo.com/amazon-attempts-to-improve-alexa-privacy-hilariously-f-1835092306

You can tell Alexa to delete everything it has recorded... since last midnight. If you want to delete more, you have to do so manually by navigating a labyrinthian menu-tree to find a feature that most people don't even know exists.

And why has amazon made it extra-hard for you to delete what Alexa has eavesdropped on you?

An Amazon spokesperson told us in an email, “By making this opt-in, customers are able to control for any unintended deletions from others with access to the device.” It’s not totally clear which users would prefer sacrificing privacy to the possibility of someone else deleting their voice recordings. It’s also unclear what the consequences of a stranger deleting your voice recordings would be. Amazon would probably just have a smaller amount of data about you on file.

"Oh No! Someone has played a prank on me and has deleted the audio-recordings Alexa has on me? How am I supposed to live without an audio-recording of a random conversation I had 7 months ago???"

[canetoad]

1. No sympathy

Spill your guts to a machine, expect the consequences.

[lapfog_1]

2. Pretty sure they really do understand security and privacy

It's just that doing so is against their business model.

[hlthe2b]

3. I am no Luddite, but I have thus far passed on the Alexas, Echoes, and Google Home "smart"

speakers. I love how those who won't even use the telephone, but only text, have decided they only want to "speak" commands to obtain information, rather than "text" to google the internet.

[DetlefK]

4. A distant friend of mine has moved in with a boyfriend who has an Alexa:

She said, she has seen him telling Alexa three times to turn off the light instead of just walking the 2 meters over and doing it himself.

And she goes into a room where there's no Alexa when discussing "women topics" with her friends.