- Amazon Sidewalk – The idea behind Amazon Sidewalk is to take a slice of your broadband as well as from others on your street to form a communal “low bandwidth” network to extend wireless coverage. There is risk in that Sidewalk creates a shared network where Amazon do not know whose broadband their devices connect through and whose devices might connect through their own. This account setting is turned on by default in Echo and Ring devices. To disable Sidewalk: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Account Setting, Amazon Sidewalk – turn OFF.
- Drop-in – Amazon’s Drop In Feature allows communication between Echo devices. An individual’s phone number is used to locate their Echo in a home miles away, and then a request is sent through the Alexa app. If you accept the connection once, that device can “drop-in” anytime and could potentially hear conversations taking place hundreds of miles away. The permission enables folks to drop-in even if you don’t answer. To disable Drop-In: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Device Settings, Select the device, communication, drop-in – turn OFF.
- Hunches – Hunches are follow-up questions Alexa asks. Hunches are also used for home “smart device tasks” such as turning off the lights at night. Alexa keeps track of your habits, routines, and requests to perform these actions on hunches. To disable Hunches: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Hunches – turn OFF).
- Amazons use of your voice recordings. Amazon stores EVERYTHING you say to your device… and potentially many things you say not meant for the device. To disable voice recordings: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Alexa Privacy, Manage Your Data, Save Recordings – Select don’t save recordings. ***While in Alexa Privacy, I recommend you review all settings and disable those you don’t require.
- Skills – These permissions include personally identifiable information such as your phone number, e-mail and even your location. To disable Skills: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Alexa Privacy, Manage Skill Permissions – Review each setting under each category and turn off any skill you don’t want Alexa to access.
- Voice Purchases – If this feature is on, ANYONE can authorize a purchase! I recommend either disabling the feature or adding a 4-digit security code (keep in mind, anyone who hears the code can use the code!) To disable Skills: Login to your account or access the app, Select: More, Settings, Voice Purchasing… and then either toggle to disable or tap enable, Voice Code and enter a 4-digit security code.
- Device Cameras – Keep the camera off unless you are using it for a video call or security camera (simply close the shutter on echo and similar devices).
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