Sen. Coons Suggests Amazon Misrepresented User Control Over Alexa Audio Data

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., suggested Amazon misrepresented the control Echo smart speaker users have in deleting audio data from interactions with Alexa. According to a letter Coons sent CEO Jeff Bezos Thursday, the company told Coons and then-Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in July that users can review and delete audio recordings from Alexa interactions, removing them from company servers. Coons cited recent reports claiming Amazon indefinitely retains transcripts of the audio interactions, meaning user control over audio is meaningless. “The inability to delete a transcript of an audio recording renders the option to delete the recording largely inconsequential and puts users’ privacy at risk,” Coons wrote. He asked Bezos if the claims are accurate, why users can’t delete such transcripts and what purpose the transcripts serve. The company is reviewing the letter, a spokesperson said Friday. Customers have "complete control over" the voice recordings, and can manage and delete recordings online: "When a customer deletes a voice recording, we also delete the corresponding text transcript associated with their account from our main Alexa systems and many subsystems, and have work underway to delete it from remaining subsystems.”