Amazon sent 1700 private Alexa audio recordings to a random person

In the latest privacy mishap, Amazon customer from Germany happened to accidentally receive another user’s 1700 audio recordings. The recordings contained a private conversation between a couple and the digital assistant. Germany’s C’T magazine was able to identify the man and contact him based on the recordings. All these events unfolded when Amazon customer wanted to listen to the interactions he had with Alexa.

Amazon mistakenly bundled all the recordings of another user and sent it to the Amazon customer via Zip file. The file contained 1700 audio recordings that included a conversation between a couple with the digital assistant. Bemused by the situation, the customer tried to contact Amazon, but there was no reply from the company. By the time, Amazon recognised the damage and deleted the recordings, the customer has already downloaded all the files.

When Reuters contacted Amazon regarding the same, their spokesperson declared it as a human error and the incident as an isolated case. Also, he said that the issue has been resolved with the two customers. Further Amazon took preventive measures to optimise the process. This comes on the back of an earlier incident wherein Amazon Echo has sent a private conversation between a couple and sent it to a random contact. Amazon later clarified that the couple has triggered Alexa’s capability to send messages to friends.

Also Read: How facebook tracks your location even if you disable location options

Not long ago, Amazon faced flak for publicly displaying the names and e-mail addresses of the users on the website without their consent. Amazon just dismissed the incident attributing it to the technical glitch. Even though the incidents appear to be isolated and extremely rare, it just reminds us to throw caution to the wind. Since Amazon stores all the interactions an user has with Alexa, it is advised to be careful regarding the conversation with the assistant.

How can you delete the recordings associated with Amazon Echo?

-First and foremost, you can delete the recordings using mobile Alexa app

-Secondly, if you wanted to delete the recordings at once, then you may navigate to content and devices page and delete them.