Researchers find Amazon uses Alexa voice data to target you with ads

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

According to a report released last week, Amazon uses voice data from its Echo devices to serve targeted ads on its own platforms and the web. The ways Amazon does this is inconsistent with its privacy policies according to a report produced by researchers affiliated with the University of Washington.

The report concludes that Amazon and third parties collect data from your interactions with Amazon's smart speaker. It also concludes that this type of data is used to serve targeted ads on- and off- platform.

It is similar to what you would experience if you made a purchase on Amazon.com.

On the Advertising Preferences Page, customers can opt out of interest-based ads. Lauren Raemhild, an Amazon spokeswoman, confirmed to The Verge that it does include ads on devices and services.

Additional privacy controls can be found at Amazon.com/alexaprivacysettings. You can see and manage your voice recordings here. You need to go to their website or app to manage third-party skills advertising preferences.

Raemhild said that customers may receive interest-based ads when they use ad-supported premium content. She said that Amazon doesn't share voice recordings with developers.

Umar Iqbal is a researcher at the University of Washington and is one of the 10 scientists behind the report. They created a number of personas that had specific interests, such as spirituality, connected car, smart home, pets, fashion, dating, navigation, beverages, and health. They created a persona as a control.

The analysis of the results showed that smart speaker interactions are used for ad targeting on the web and in audio ads. There is strong evidence that smart-speaker interactions are used for the purpose of targeting ads, and that this ad targeting implies significant data sharing across multiple parties.

According to the report, only processed transcripts were shared, not raw audio. There was less data activity tracking on smart speakers compared to prior research.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Many of the conclusions in the research are based on speculation, and do not accurately reflect how Amazon's voice assistant works, according to the company.

Raemhild said that all third-party skills that collect personal information are required to post their privacy policy on their skill page and that developers may use that information in accordance with those policies. More than 70 percent of the skills it examined did not mention either Amazon orAlexa in their privacy policies, and only 10 of them were clear about their data collection practices.

There is a need for greater transparency in the collection, sharing, and use of smart speaker data. Black-box devices without open interfaces allow independent researchers to expose what data is collected or how they are shared and used.