How to Protect Your Privacy on Amazon and Alexa

Amazon knows more about you than almost any other company. Between your shopping history, Alexa voice recordings, Ring doorbell footage, Kindle reading habits, and browsing data, Amazon has built an extraordinarily detailed profile of your life. This guide walks you through every privacy setting you should change on Amazon and Alexa devices to limit data collection and protect your personal information.

What Data Does Amazon Collect?

Amazon's data collection spans nearly every aspect of your digital and physical life:

• Shopping data — everything you've ever browsed, wishlisted, purchased, or returned
• Voice recordings — every command you've given to Alexa, plus any audio accidentally captured by wake-word false triggers
• Smart home data — information from Ring cameras, smart locks, thermostats, and other connected devices
• Browsing history — what you search for and view on Amazon's website and apps
• Location data — from the Amazon app, delivery addresses, and Alexa-enabled devices
• Reading and viewing habits — Kindle books, Prime Video watch history, and Audible listening data
• Household data — profiles of family members, children's accounts, and shared device usage

This data fuels Amazon's advertising business, product recommendations, and AI training. Fortunately, you can limit much of it.

Alexa Privacy Settings

Alexa-enabled devices (Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Fire TV) are among the most privacy-sensitive products in your home. Here's how to lock them down:

1. Delete Your Voice Recordings

By default, Amazon stores all your Alexa voice recordings indefinitely. To manage this:

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone
2. Go to More → Settings → Alexa Privacy → Manage Your Alexa Data
3. Under "How long should Alexa save your voice recordings," select "Don't save recordings" or set automatic deletion to 3 months
4. Tap "Delete all voice history" to clear existing recordings

2. Opt Out of "Help Improve Alexa"

Amazon uses your voice recordings to train and improve Alexa's AI. To opt out:

1. In the Alexa app, go to Settings → Alexa Privacy → Manage Your Alexa Data
2. Find "Help Improve Alexa" and toggle it off
3. Also toggle off "Use of voice recordings" and "Use messages to improve transcriptions"

3. Disable Alexa's Drop-In Feature

Drop In allows other Alexa users to connect to your Echo device like an intercom — potentially listening in on your household. Unless you actively use this feature with trusted family members:

1. Go to Settings → Device Settings → [Your Device] → Communications
2. Set Drop In to "Off" or "My Household" only

4. Use the Physical Mute Button

Every Echo device has a physical microphone mute button that electronically disconnects the microphones. Press it when you want guaranteed privacy — the light ring turns red to indicate the microphones are off. This is the only way to be certain Alexa isn't listening.

5. Review and Delete Smart Home Activity

Alexa logs every smart home command you give. Periodically review and delete this history:

1. Go to Alexa Privacy → Review Smart Home Activity
2. Delete individual entries or clear all activity

Amazon Account Privacy Settings

Beyond Alexa, your Amazon account itself collects extensive data. Here's what to change:

1. Manage Your Advertising Preferences

1. Go to Amazon.com → Account → Advertising Preferences
2. Select "Do Not Show Me Interest-Based Ads"

This won't reduce the number of ads you see, but it will stop Amazon from using your browsing and purchase history to target you with personalized advertising.

2. Clear Your Browsing History

1. Go to Amazon.com → Account → Browsing History
2. Toggle "Turn Browsing History on/off" to off
3. Click "Remove all items from view"

3. Manage Your Privacy Settings

1. Go to Amazon.com → Account → Your Amazon Privacy Settings
2. Review the "Request My Data" option to see what Amazon has collected
3. Use "Manage Your Data" to limit data sharing

4. Review Alexa Third-Party Skills

Alexa Skills are like apps that extend Alexa's capabilities — and each one can access certain data. Review and remove Skills you don't use:

1. In the Alexa app, go to More → Skills & Games → Your Skills
2. Review each installed Skill
3. Disable any Skills you no longer use or don't recognize

Ring and Smart Home Privacy

If you use Ring cameras or other Amazon smart home devices:

• Disable Shared Video Access — review and limit who has access to your Ring camera feeds in the Ring app under Shared Users
• Opt out of video sharing with law enforcement — Ring previously shared video with police departments; review your settings to ensure your video is private
• Enable end-to-end encryption — Ring offers E2E encryption for certain devices; enable it in your Ring app's Device Settings
• Review motion detection zones — limit cameras to only record areas on your own property

Protect Your Privacy Beyond Amazon

Amazon privacy settings can limit what the company collects going forward, but your personal information is already scattered across the internet. Data brokers compile your name, address, phone number, purchase history, and more — making it searchable by anyone.

PrivacyOn helps by automatically monitoring and removing your personal information from over 100 data broker sites. With 24/7 scanning, dark web monitoring, and family plans that protect up to 5 people, PrivacyOn provides the comprehensive privacy protection that no single app's settings can deliver on their own. Starting at just $8.33 per month, it's an affordable way to reclaim control over your personal data everywhere it appears online.