No matter how many Amazon Echo commercials you see, it takes a little time to adjust to Alexa. Putting a virtual assistant in your home signals a change in lifestyle, sort of like adopting a puppy. There will be a lot of trial-and-error, but once you find your rhythm, you’ll forget what life was like without her.
The Amazon Echo listens for the wake word, “Alexa.” But, frankly, I was shocked by how many conversations were recorded by my Echo that did not include the wake word. You might be too.
The device is programmed to respond to almost unlimited commands and variations, and there are tens of thousands of individual “skills” you can add to her repertoire. But the journey of a million commands starts with a single wake phrase.
Is Amazon Echo Always Listening?
The short answer is yes. Alexa is activated when it detects one of its wake words, which are “Alexa,” “Amazon,” “Computer,” or “Echo.” You’ll know that the device is ready for a command when the outer ring at the top glows blue.
According to Amazon, a fraction of a second of audio before the wake word is stored along with each recording. So if you’re having a conversation and say something like, “I love that song! Let’s listen to it. Alexa, play the Coldplay song, ‘Viva La Vida,’” then Alexa may keep the words “listen to it.”
How to Listen to These Recordings
Surprise! You can access all those recordings and listen to every command you’ve ever given since first installing the Echo in your house. Crazy, right?
I’m guessing that most people don’t realize they have this ability. But indeed, you can review your voice log with the Alexa app on iOS and Android and the app also allows you to scroll through your activity and listen to each recording.
I was surprised that some of my recordings had nothing to do with giving Alexa commands. There was me talking on my phone about my old studios that I was selling. Alexa also recorded portions of a presidential television debate. I am not sure why my real estate phone call was recorded. But one of the candidates almost said the word “Alexa.”
If you’d like to review your old recordings, pull up the Alexa app and visit the History section of the Settings menu. Tap on the entry you’d like to review in greater detail and tap the Play icon to listen to the recording. Given the hundreds or thousands of commands most Echo users accumulate, you have a chronicle of requests spoken in your actual voice.
How to Delete Recordings
If the thought of your recorded requests and other things you might have said stored in a database creeps you out, you can delete them. You need to remove the associated entry of each recording on the Alexa app. Here are the steps to delete recordings:
Open the Alexa app and go into the Settings section.
Select History and you’ll see a list of all the entries.
Select an entry and tap the Delete button.
But what happens if you want to delete all those recordings? Do you have to find each one and manually remove it? That could take days!
Amazon allows you to remove everything with one click. Just visit the “Manage Your Content and Devices” at www.amazon.com/mycd.
Keep in mind that Amazon warns, “deleting voice recordings may degrade your Alexa experience.”
How to Keep Your Echo From Listening
The gravity of this listening reality was brought to light in the murder trial of a man named James Bates. In February 2016, Bates was officially charged with the murder of Victor Collins. Amazon was served a warrant requesting the audio files from Bates’ Amazon Echo. But Amazon fought back.
Amazon believed complying with such a warrant could violate consumers' rights to privacy. Why then, did Amazon ultimately hand over the audio files? In an unexpected twist, Bates provided consent for the police to review the Echo’s data. Because of this abrupt change, we'll never know how Amazon would have defended themselves in their fight to protect their customers’ private data. Click here for additional details about the murder case and Amazon’s actions.
If you want to prevent Echo from listening to you, switch off Echo’s microphone. There is an on/off button on the top of the device, and whenever the button is red, the mic is off. To reactivate it, just press the button again.
Source:- http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/12/30/best-alexa-commands-to-try-with-your-new-echo.html
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