The TikTok user @ my.data.not.yours has uploaded a video in which she explains how she asked Amazon for all the personal data they had collected about her, going viral the moment she received more than 3,500 audio files.
Amazon makes a history of all your online purchases.
The woman also known as ‘Data Privacy TikTok’ received the clips in a ZIP compression format , in addition, Amazon has a complete list of the contacts that are added in the phone’s address book and the exact location of where the smart devices are located. Alexa. In the case of the TikToker , she owns three speakers and smart bulbs.
This is the description made by the user in the video: “It’s scary because there are 3,534 short audio files in that compressed file. Turns out they have a full list of my contacts from my phone and I never remember syncing that. The last thing I didn’t know they had, I could have assumed they had it, but I don’t love that they have it, it’s my location. “
The video has been published on the social network and has achieved millions of views, likewise, numerous comments can be read in which doubts about the lack of privacy that users may have with the presence of these technological products at home. However, Amazon customers decide which recordings they can save, delete or review .
How can Amazon get my data?
In case you did not know, the function of synchronizing contacts with Alexa to make calls with the hands-free can be deactivated from the device’s own settings . Also, location permissions are set the moment we start using an Amazon item.
This function has the objective of making brands aware of the problem that the customer has had.
If you want to know what data Amazon stores about us, you can access ‘Request my data’, select the information we want to receive, click on ‘Send request’ and confirm it through a link that is received via email .
Additionally, users can grant permissions for the Alexa app to use certain data, such as geographic location, weather, traffic, or restaurant recommendations. It is important to note that all this information was revealed by an Amazon spokesperson for The Sun newspaper .
Amazon’s position
A company spokesperson shared with us the company’s position: “Amazon offers its customers transparency and control in their Alexa experience. Customers can easily review and delete their voice recordings at any time, or choose not to save them to absolute “, they assure.
“Customers can import their mobile phone contacts into the Alexa app to be able to use features like hands-free calling and messaging; this optional feature, which customers must configure, can be disabled at any time,” the spokesperson continues.
Finally, they add, “you can grant permissions to the Alexa app to use certain data, such as the geolocation of your mobile device, to provide relevant results (for example, weather, traffic, restaurant recommendations), and you can manage these permissions in the app “.
