Despite Pressure From Coons, Amazon Hasn’t Fully Deleted Audio Transcripts

Alexa users can delete audio data, but Amazon is still working to remove related transcript data, despite pressure from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., in July 2018. Coons in May suggested the company misrepresented the control that Echo smart speaker users have in deleting audio data from interactions with Alexa (see 1905240034). Responding to Coons in a letter dated Friday, the company said transcripts are deleted from Alexa’s primary storage systems, and “we have an ongoing effort to ensure those transcripts do not remain in any of Alexa’s other storage systems.” That leaves open the possibility that transcript data remains stored, despite user requests for deletion, Coons said in a statement Tuesday. He raised concern about how data can be shared with third parties: “The American people deserve to understand how their personal data is being used by tech companies.” Amazon’s letter describes how it retains records of Alexa’s actions in response to users, despite deletion of user audio. Examples include when a customer “subscribes to Amazon Music Unlimited, places an Amazon Fresh order, requests a car from Uber or Lyft, and orders a pizza from Domino’s.” The e-tailer doesn’t anonymize user identity information related to transcripts, which allows customers to review transcripts. Alexa is designed to get smarter every day, the company said, using machine learning to analyze region, dialect, context, environment, age and other details about Echo users. The company didn’t comment further.