Flickr/Tatsuo Yamashita
Amazon Echo
Amazon’s smart speaker offers way more features than the competition, but that means there’s even more to consider if you’re worried about privacy. From voice recordings to automatic purchases, there a plenty of ways your Echo can leave you exposed.
Block Incoming Voice and Video Calls
Echo makes it easy to receive calls and video chats (Amazon calls them Drop Ins) directly to the speaker. The only downside is that someone could dial-in unannounced, listen to any other conversations happening in the room, and even spy on you if your Echo has a camera (like the Show or Spot).
To block all incoming voice calls. Open the Alexa app, go to Settings, and switch on Do Not Disturb mode. You can also use the voice command “Alexa, don’t disturb me,” and switch it back on with “Alexa, turn off do not disturb.”
If you want to switch off the Drop In feature, Amazon offers a few different options. First, open Settings in the Alexa app, select your device, and scroll down to Drop In. From there, you can select “Off” to kill the feature entirely, or select “Only My Household” if you have a bunch of Echos in the house and want to use them as a video intercom system.
Alternatively, you can block specific callers using the Alexa app. Just open the Conversations tab, select Contacts, and then tap on Block Contacts. From there, you can block anyone you want from dropping in on your Echo.
Delete Your Voice Command Data
Amazon records all the commands you give and uses that data to make Alexa even smarter, but you can delete all of it pretty easily if you want to. All you need to do is head to this website, sign into your Amazon account, and go to Devices. From there, you can delete individual voice commands, or scrub them all at once by clicking on the three dots icon, selecting Manage Voice Recordings, then Delete, and then clicking Delete again to confirm.
Disable Voice Purchases
Unless you live alone and never have any guests over, turning off voice-based purchases is a no-brainer. Otherwise, anyone could walk into your house and order a bunch of stuff on Amazon from your account.
Thankfully, switching off this feature is pretty easy. Just open the Alexa app, select Settings, then Voice Purchasing, and then toggle it off. Alternatively, you can add a “voice code” from the same screen in the app so anyone who tries to make a purchase with your Echo will need a four-digit code to do it.
Turn Off the Microphone and Camera
Amazon makes it pretty easy to switch off the Echo’s camera. Just hit the big microphone button when you don’t want the company listening in—also useful if one of your guests keeps on telling Alexa to change the music.
If you have an Echo Show, or some other model with a built-in camera, you can also turn that off the lens with the press of a button. If you’re paranoid, you could also try covering it up with a piece of tape to be sure no one is spying on you.
Google Home
Google’s smart speaker lineup is a little less of a privacy minefield than Amazon’s, but there’s still plenty to be done if you’re concerned about protecting your personal information. Here’s a quick guide for any privacy-obsessed Google Home owners.
Block Incoming Calls
The Google Home’s phone call capabilities are a lot less robust than Amazon’s. The only way to receive calls to the company’s AI speakers is by linking your own personal number to the device. So if you’re worried about privacy just don’t activate that feature.
If you already connected your number to your Google Home, switching it off isn’t too hard. Just open the Google Home app while you’re connected to the Wi-Fi. Then hit the devices icon in the top right corner and select your Home speaker. On the next screen, tap on the three dots icon in the top right corner, select Settings, and then Linked accounts. Finally, select Unlink to delete the connection.
As for video calls, Google doesn’t make any Home speakers with a built-in camera—at least not yet. So there’s nothing to worry about at the moment.
Delete Your Voice Command Data
Just like Amazon, Google records all the voice commands you use. To delete those recordings, open the Google Assistant app and go to Settings, then Home Control, and select your speaker. Then click on the three dots in the top right corner, tap on My Activity, and from there you can pick and choose which commands to delete. To delete everything, hit the three dots in the top right corner, select “Delete activity by,” and then clear everything at once.
Disable Voice Purchases
You can use your Google Home to order products through Google Express, but that feature needs to be set up to work. So if you’re worried about privacy, just leave it off.
If it’s already enabled, open the Google Home app, go to Settings, then More settings, and then toggle off Personal results to disable the feature. You can also cancel specific orders at this link as long as they haven’t been prepared for delivery already.
Turn Off the Microphone
Just like on an Echo, your Google Home speaker has a physical button to turn off the microphone. In most cases, it’s hidden in the back of the device. So you may have to do a little searching to find it the first time
Apple HomePod
For the privacy-concerned consumer, the HomePod is probably your best bet. Apple’s made a name for itself by protecting customer data, and this smart speaker is no exception. Still, there are a few things to consider if you want to keep your personal information as safe as possible.
Block Incoming Calls
The only way to make or take calls with the HomePod is through your smartphone. So there’s nothing to worry about here. Moving on...
Apple goes to extra lengths to secure the recordings of your voice commands. Everything is encrypted and anonymized before the company ever looks at it, but if you’re still not convinced there is a way to delete that data entirely.
According to Wired, all you have to do is switch off Ask Siri and Dictation on your iOS device. First, open the Settings app, select Siri and switch off Ask Siri. Next, go back to Settings, then General, then Keyboard, and toggle off Dictation. That should stop your HomePod from recording your commands moving forward.
Disable Voice Purchases
As far as I can tell, you can’t actually make any purchases through your HomePod. Again, nothing to worry about.
Disable Personal Requests
Finally, here’s one privacy concern that’s HomePod-specific. Apple included a feature called Personal Requests that lets you listen to recent text messages and send a response through the smart speaker. The only problem is that the device has no way of telling the different between different people’s voices, meaning anyone in the house can get access to your private messages.
To disable the feature, head into HomePod settings on your iPhone and switch off Personal Requests. Or just skip that part of the setup process in the first place.