How to Control What Alexa and Google Assistant Do With Your Voice Data

Your privacy matters, especially when every gadget

you own, every site you visit online

wants to get as much as your data as possible, all the time.

It's easy to get complacent, but don't.

With just a little effort and awareness

you can keep the info that matters to you safe

and know what to do if it gets out anyway.

Alexa, are you listening to everything I say?

[Alexa] I only send audio back to Amazon

when I hear you say the wake word.

Okay Google, what are you doing with my data?

[Google Home Device] We use data to show us,

but do not share information with advertisers

that would personally identify you.

Okay, honestly, it's so hard to get a straight

answer out of a voice assistant these days.

But they're good questions to ask.

Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other devices that have

Alexa and Google assistant built in,

these are some of the most promising

new technologies to come along in years.

And they're generally useful to have around,

whether it's to settle a bet, help out with a recipe,

but it can also feel a little creepy to have a speaker

in your house that's always listening.

What exactly is it doing with that info?

Where does it go?

Here's the good news.

While their microphones are always on,

Google Home and Alexa don't actually do anything

with your voice until you say their wake word,

which is usually just okay Google or Alexa.

Easy enough.

Your fight over who's taking out the trash this time

does not leave the house.

But what about after you say the wake word?

That's when it gets a little trickier.

Voice assistants need to be able to pull their

information from the entire internet to work properly

which means they send your request back

to a far away server somewhere.

Both Amazon and Google though, let you see

what requests have been logged.

So you can look in your Alexa app or go to

myactivity.google.com and see what

Amazon and Google are storing.

That's also where you can delete your voice requests

if you don't want the lurking

on corporate servers somewhere.

And you probably don't.

And if you're still anxious about Echo and Home,

remember that both come equipped with a handy mute button.

The Echo's is on top and Google Home's is in the back.

Just remember that if they can't listen to you,

they're basically fancy paperweights.