The Amazon Echo privacy update for 2025 has left many disappointed and you should feel the same. The Amazon Echo local processing function is being removed so the deceive will soon begin sending all voice commands and instructions to the cloud. This Alexa data storage policy change for 2025 was first brought to light by a Reddit user who shared an image of the email they had received regarding the update.
Later, The Verge was able to communicate with a spokesperson for the company and confirm the news. Alexa has never been a safe device to keep around considering its ability to listen to conversations at all times, however, the recent change in policy is a final nail in the coffin on the matter of privacy.
The Amazon Echo voice recording cloud policy will go into effect on March 28, so you might want to decide what you do with your Echo next by then.
The Amazon Echo privacy update will change how and where data is processed. (Image: Amazon Echo Pop)
Amazon Echo Privacy Update 2025: No More Local Processing of Data
Until now, certain Amazon Echo users had the option to enable the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option for their Echo devices, which would restrict all processing to occur locally. This system gave users a sense of control over their data and some relief in terms of their concerns surrounding privacy.
By March 28, Amazon Echo’s local processing feature will be removed and all processing will occur on the cloud. You can opt out of storing the data but the cloud function cannot be turned off.
What Is the Reason for Amazon Echo’s Local Processing Being Removed?
This change was largely inevitable considering the Alexa+ AI upgrade that is scheduled to arrive soon. While the next generation of devices may be able to upgrade hardware to support local processing of requests, perhaps the older models are not as capable of keeping up.
In an email to its customers, Amazon offered the same explanation. “As we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud, we have decided to no longer support this feature.”
“Alexa+ wants to know you better so it can make better recommendations. It’s asking for your data under the guise of acting like a support tool, and many of us will hand it over willingly.” That is what a tech insider had to say on the matter. “There is no reason for non-Alexa+ users to lose access to the local processing capability unless Amazon has another use for that information,” he concluded.
The Alexa+ upgrade is expected to be a paid subscription model exclusively available to interested users who pay $19.99 per month to access it, or it’s available for free for Prime users. All that considered, there really isn’t any reason for all local data processing to be moved to the cloud when not all users are going to use the advanced version, to begin with.
What Does the Amazon Echo Voice Recording Cloud Policy Mean for Users?
With every step that AI moves forward, we love some degree of privacy with it. All AI tools are essential data banks of user information, and the more you interact with them, the more they are able to learn and improve their own capabilities. To what end? That has always remained unclear to customers, but for tech businesses, dominance in the AI industry appears to be the ultimate goal.
The Alexa Echo devices have always been a controversial product but over the years, we have normalized listening devices to the degree where many can no longer function without relying on voice commands to bring forth the information they want. Now, that semblance of privacy that Amazon Echo users had will be lost as the local processing feature is removed.
🚨 Big change for Amazon Echo users! Local processing for Alexa requests is gone, forcing voice recordings into the cloud. This raises concerns over privacy and data security. Are we sacrificing security for convenience? 💭 Expect increasing scrutiny and a search for alternatives…
— TF🛡️🇺🇸🇫🇷 🤺 🐬 🟧 (@Tferriere) March 16, 2025
The Alexa+ AI bot is designed to learn more about the users and to do so, it needs to track and record your information over time—even your voice for its advanced VoiceID feature. Regardless of whether you subscribe to Alexa+, you will no longer have local data processing.
If you set your Echo to the “Don’t save recordings” function, you will essentially lose access to the voice ID feature as well. This means you cannot benefit from Alexa’s ability to distinguish between users since it won’t be able to create a record for each one. The “Don’t save recordings” function will be turned on by default on March 28 if you’re currently using the “Do Not Send Voice Recording” function.
Amazon’s data storage policy for 2025 has some users considering getting rid of their devices. (Image: Amazon Echo Show 10)
Amazon Removes Alexa’s Local Storage, but Can It Keep Data Safe?
The Amazon Echo privacy update for 2025 comes with the reassurance from the company that the cloud space where voice request data will be processed has been “designed with layers of security protections to keep customer information safe.” This may be true, but Amazon hasn’t acknowledged the fact that most customers aren’t worried about outsiders stealing their data—the problem is Amazon itself.
The company has seen multiple allegations of accessing and mismanaging user voice recordings. Years after the first Amazon Echo was launched, in 2019, the company confirmed that it retained “customers’ voice recordings and transcripts until the customer [chose] to delete them.”
Earlier that year, it had been revealed that Amazon employees actually listened to a “small sample” of these recordings in order to improve the software. Some say God is always watching, but trust that Amazon is always listening.
Amazon Is No Stranger to Allegations of Storing Customer Voice Data
With Amazon Echo’s local processing removed, users should still have some control over the storing of this data. According to Amazon, turning on the “Do Not Save Recordings” may allow for the data to be processed on the cloud and then promptly deleted once the request is complete. Whether Amazon will honor this request is a separate matter.
The worst breach of privacy and trust from Amazon came in 2023 when the company was fined $25 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The offense? The company was accused of allegedly violating child privacy laws by recording the voice and location data of children who used the assistant. This was after parents requested that the data be deleted.
Amazon’s Ring doorbell camera unit was simultaneously fined $5.8 million for allowing employees to watch private recordings of videos from customers’ homes. Amazon denied these allegations as expected, “While we disagree with the FTC’s claims regarding both Alexa and Ring, and deny violating the law, these settlements put these matters behind us.” Few have been convinced by its commitment to privacy.
Which Users Will Be Affected by the Amazon Echo Privacy Update in 2025?
As much as the Amazon Echo voice recording cloud policy comes as a surprise, it is affecting only a few users, as the local processing function was limited to a few devices and users in the first place. The local processing option was only available on a few devices like the Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15. Furthermore, this was also only available in the U.S. and specifically for those who were using the English setting.
The larger majority of customers have always been restricted to cloud processing of data but may not have realized it or what it meant for them. This privacy policy update brings a lot more into focus than Amazon might have liked.
From here on out, regardless of which Echo device you use and whether or not you subscribe to Alexa+, you can assume that your data is being processed on the cloud. It may or may not be stored, depending on what settings you pick.
Are there any Amazon Echo Alternatives With Local Data Processing?
The Google Nest speakers with Google Assistant also use cloud processing of data while the the Apple HomePod with HomeKit has some local processing capabilities that you might find useful. The voice assistant market is populated by smartphone assistants primarily, with a few options for smart home hubs that often rely on a cloud.
The Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition is a good place to start if you want reliable hardware for your home which can also run locally, and it is the best recommendation we can make right now. The company’s work on providing voice commands in other languages has been great to see during its “Year of the Voice” updates, and it continues to be one of the best alternatives to Amazon Echo devices.
Willow is a viable option as an open-source, privacy-focused platform for voice assistants. It primarily targets the ESP32-S3-BOX hardware family from Espressif and is a more affordable and customizable option for smart home assistants.
Echo Users React to Privacy Changes on Amazon Echo
The internet has been largely unsurprised by the change in the company’s data processing privacy policy as many had predicted that the Alexa AI would require more data on its users. Still, users are certainly disappointed at Amazon’s decision to prevent them from opting out of the service if they don’t want to use the chatbot on AI steroids.
Even by Amazon standards, this is extraordinarily sleazy: starting March 28, each Amazon Echo device will cease processing audio on-device and instead upload all the audio it captures to Amazon’s cloud for processing.
— Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK (@doctorow) March 15, 2025
Many users have begun talking about binning their Amazon Echo and starting to distance themselves from Amazon’s services, but considering the many ways the brand has made itself a staple in our lives, it is quite hard to do. In 2025, with Alexa’s data storage policy being what it is and most tech giants fighting to establish the same type of dominance, we find ourselves leaning towards more traditional, old-school gadgets and technology that have been scaled back to a degree.
Whether it’s the rise of dumbphones and mechanical locks or whether we bring back the light bulbs that turn off with a clap, it might be time to think about scaling down how much technology we become dependent on for our day-to-day lives.
Have recommendations for other alternatives to the Amazon Echo devices? Let us know. For more in-depth explorations into the world of tech, subscribe to Technowize.