How to Delete Voice Memos From Alexa, Google Assistant, Facebook Portal and Siri

We can control so many devices by voice interaction with digital assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. This can be incredibly handy, but it can also be stressful knowing that tech companies now have recordings of your voice and interactions.

This is not to say that digital assistants are insecure, but users need to know what data is collected and why, and how much they control how they are used. Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook collect voice data in one form or another. In addition, they all allow users to control what and how to save data, although some do better than others.

Alexa

Everything you say to Alexa from whatever devices you use is stored on Amazon’s servers. You can manage all of this data through your Amazon account, and you can also change these settings for each device using the Alexa app .

1. Go to the Amazon Voice Management page.
2. There are several different headers on the page, each containing specific saved data / settings. You can use them to delete your voice history, smart alert history, and device-specific history.
3. Check each of these pages and remove any data you don’t want to keep, especially the Alexa Privacy page.
4. To opt out of Amazon using your records to improve Alexa, visit the Alexa privacy page and click Manage how your data improves Alexa. Then turn off “Use voice recordings to improve Amazon services and develop new features” and “Use messages to improve transcription.”

Facebook

While Facebook doesn’t have its own AI assistant yet, the company still collects voice data through its Alexa-powered Facebook Portal video chat devices.

You can manage voice data on your Portal device, the Facebook mobile app, or from the Facebook website.

1. Open your Facebook profile
2. Click / tap on activity log
3. Select the Voice Interactions filter in the sidebar.
4. Click / tap on “Delete All Voice Interactions” to erase your voice history, or find and delete specific interactions using the search icon.

Google Assistant

As with Alexa, the entire history of Google Assistant from devices linked to your Google account can be viewed from any device you can use to access your account settings.

1. Go to your activity page on Google .
2. Scroll down to Voice & Audio Actions.
3. Click or tap Manage Actions.
4. From here, you can search through history using the search bar; delete by keywords, date and / or product type; or delete each entry individually.
5. You can turn off voice interaction tracking by returning to the Google activity home page and then clicking or tapping the blue slider next to Voice and sound activity to turn it off.

Siri

Apple is often bypassed when it comes to privacy and data, but even if processing your voice data is “safer,” it still collects and stores it – and forced real people to listen to snippets to improve Siri’s experience.

Unlike other companies, Apple applies an all-or-nothing principle to deleting and blocking recordings of your interactions with Siri. You will have to stop using the assistant entirely (or delete your Apple account ) in order to delete any records that Apple has kept.

To “disable” Siri in iOS 11+, you need to:

1. Go to Settings> Siri & Search .
2. Turn off “Listen to Hey Siri and Push Side Button for Siri”.
3. Please accept the warning to disable features completely.
4. Then go to Settings> General> Keyboard.
5. Disable Enable Dictation and accept the warning.
6. Repeat these steps for each Apple device you own.

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