Alexa
A video is getting viral on the internet which has sparked concern regarding privacy and data. An Ohio-based content creator, Austin Lincoin, who usually shares daily vlogs regarding his nursing school life. In the video getting viral, he claimed that his Amazon Alexa device after it casually mentioned that he was a nursing student, the information he claims he never directly shared with the device. When he pointed out this, Alexa agreed with him and admitted that it “shouldn’t have mentioned nursing school earlier.” He quoted the same words back to Alexa “Earlier, when I said I was quiet, you said, ‘That is understandable, especially with you being in nursing school.'”
Alexa admitted that he was correct and acknowledged that this might be confusing and concerning and admit that it collects background information that is used for further response.
The video has started a debate that Alexa really collects data, and it shares private information with third parties. As per official information when a user says “Alexa” the voice commands are recorded, transcribed, and stored on Amazon’s servers. As long as the device is powered on and the microphone is enabled, the device listens for its wake word. According to Amazon, it isn’t spying or recording what users say beyond that. However, the device may occasionally activate and record conversations if it misinterprets background sounds such as TV, or radio, as its wake word.
As of 28th March 2025, Alexa devices no longer allow users to opt out of sending voice recording to Amazon’s cloud. All voice interactions even for simple commands are transmitted and stored locally.
The company officially states that it does not sell Alexa data. However, the company’s practices around using the data internally for advertising and AI training have been heavily scrutinised.
The Internet was shocked after the video went viral. The comments ranged from “I don’t understand why people have these in their homes” to a former Apple employee writing “I worked for Apple, did some work on Siri. She is always listening.”
While other users were struck by the device’s almost emotional response, a user wrote “AI giving a breathy response is wild,” whereas another user wrote “Honestly, she sounds pretty sorry about it. I forgive her.”
The easiest way to keep your data safe is to mute the microphone by simply pressing the Mute button on any Echo device to temporarily disable it. Until the device is unmuted it cannot hear or record anything. Users can also adjust Alexa’s privacy setting through official Alexa app to review voice history, delete recordings, control how long Amazon stores your data, or instruct Alexa not to save recording.
Syed Ziyauddin is a media and international relations enthusiast with a strong academic and professional foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jamia Millia Islamia and a Master’s in International Relations (West Asia) from the same institution.
He has work with organizations like ANN Media, TV9 Bharatvarsh, NDTV and Centre for Discourse, Fusion, and Analysis (CDFA) his core interest includes Tech, Auto and global affairs.
Tweets @ZiyaIbnHameed
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