When it comes to keeping user data protected, even the biggest tech companies are not always up to the task. We thought it was a good idea to revisit which key settings you need to know.
We are talking about the three major digital assistants, including the one on the phone. The process on your phone may differ slightly, but the options shouldn't be hard to find.
If you're not comfortable with your phone always listening for something, head to settings and choose "hey Google", then you're good to go.
On the same screen, tap the three dots and you will see activity controls. The next screen you see shows Web and App Activity at the top, which shows everything that's happened to you, from where you've been on the web to the apps you've installed from the Play Store. You can turn this off completely by pressing the Turn off button, but it will stop recording everything across all the apps.
If you want to stop voice recordings from being kept, you have to include the audio recordings box. From the same screen, you can either view and remove data from the Assistant, or you can choose to have the data deleted after a certain period of time.
There are options to pause, review, and remove this collection of data on the web and on the mobile device. You can get to the Web and App Activity screen if you tap on the three dots and My Activity.
If you don't want your phone to be constantly listening in, you can turn it off by opening the settings. If you want to turn off the press side button on the phone completely, you have to allow it when locked.
You can keep your voice activated, but make sure that the information you give is kept to a minimum. If you want to remove all traces of your Siri history from Apple's server, you can choose to do so here.
The data you are removing is randomized and not linked to your Apple ID, but it comes from your phone, even if it is no longer associated with it. Most of the data is thrown out after six months, but some is kept on record for a longer period to improve Siri.
You need to be aware of the improvements in the settings of the device. If this option is turned off, the history that you deleted in the previous step is never collected in the first place, not even data that has been randomized and anonymized since leaving your phone.
If you let it, it will still keep recordings of your voice commands and improve the accuracy of your interactions with it. If you don't like it, you can turn it off through the app.
From the front screen of the app, tap More. If you choose Review Voice History, you will be able to see the records that have been kept of your voice commands. This is the way to go if you want to remove sensitive recordings.
You can stop recordings being made in the first place if you choose to do so on the Privacy screen. You can wipe recordings from existence after 3 months or 18 months.
If you don't want any of your voice recordings to be reviewed by Amazon, you can turn off the Use of voice recordings switch. You will get a warning that voice recognition and new features may not work well for you if you don't have this kind of training.
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