News and journalism
Amazon quietly adds 'no human review' option to Alexa settings as voice AIs face privacy scrutiny
Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch, 2019
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A news report, published August 3, 2019, that Amazon changed Alexa's settings so users could opt out of having their voice recordings manually reviewed by people. It cites Bloomberg's earlier reporting and includes an Amazon spokesperson's statement.
- How much weight it carries
- A technology news report with a named reporter, relaying Bloomberg's reporting and an Amazon statement. It shows what Amazon changed and when the change took effect, but it does not measure how many recordings were reviewed.
Facts taken from this source
- In August 2019, Amazon changed Alexa's settings so that users could opt out of having their voice recordings manually reviewed by its human workers. The change took effect on Friday, August 2, 2019, after Bloomberg reported the practice.
“allow users to opt out of their voice recordings being manually reviewed” (Opening paragraph)