Your Amazon Echo smart speakers are losing key privacy feature – and Alexa+ is to blame

An Echo Dot sitting on a table with a black background

(Image credit: Jonathan Borba / Pexels)

published 20 March 2025

QUICK SUMMARY

Amazon is removing a key privacy feature from its Echo smart speakers.

On 28th March, Amazon will change how Alexa processes voice commands and will start sending and processing recordings in the cloud.

Amazon is planning to remove a key privacy feature from its Echo smart speakers and displays, and people aren’t happy. Starting on 28th March, Amazon will change how your voice commands are processed by Alexa and will send your recordings to the cloud for processing, instead of your Echo device doing it for you.

Amazon recently announced Alexa+, a smarter, more conversational and AI-powered version of its original voice assistant. While many are excited about this new advancement, it turns out that Alexa+ could be to blame for the removal of this popular privacy feature.

Recently, Amazon emailed Echo smart speaker owners who have local processing enabled to inform them that their voice recordings will now be sent to and processed in the cloud. Previously, Echo devices did this locally, so this change has irritated some users that prefer to do it this way.

Aside from the new cloud processing, your recordings will be deleted after Alexa processes your requests, and previously saved recordings will also be deleted.

The news of this privacy feature loss has annoyed some, although it’s only affected three Echo devices. This includes the Echo Dot (4th Gen), the Echo Show 10 and the Echo Show 15 as these are the only devices to support local Alexa.

Additionally, it only affects users who have a certain setting saved. For users who have ‘Don’t Save Recordings’ selected within their voice recording settings, this means that voice ID won’t work and you can’t create voice ID for individual users.

So, how is Alexa+ to blame, you might be thinking? In the email from Amazon, the company stated that the change is due to the increased processing power and generative AI tools that are required for Alexa+.

Beth is Home Editor for T3, looking after style, living and wellness. From the comfiest mattresses to strange things you can cook in an air fryer, Beth covers sleep, yoga, smart home, coffee machines, watches, grooming tools, fragrances, gardening and much more. If it's something that goes in your house, chances are Beth knows about it and has the latest reviews and recommendations! She's also in the know about the latest deals and discount codes from top brands and retailers.

Having always been passionate about writing, she’s written for websites, newspapers and magazines on a variety of topics, from jewellery and culture, to food and telecoms. You can find her work across numerous sites, including Wedding Ideas Magazine, Health & Wellbeing, The Bristol Post, Fashion & Style Directory, TechRadar, CreativeBloq and more. In her spare time, Beth enjoys running, reading, baking and attempting craft projects that will probably end in disaster!