Amazon’s Alexa Sends User’s Private Recording Audio to Stranger

Amazon’s Alexa Sends User’s Private Recording Audio to Stranger: A user of Alexa, Amazon’s smart assistant was sent 1,500 audio files from a complete stranger, after he asked Alexa to access his own recordings.

Amazon’s Alexa user accesses stranger’s audio chats while trying to access his on recording. This incident took place in Germany when a user Steve Kuncewicz asked Alexa to access his private recording files.

Amazon's smart assistant Alexa was sent 1,700 audio files from a complete stranger,

Later Steve reported the issue to Amazon but didn’t get any response. The file was however deleted from user’s Alexa by Amazon, but Steve Kuncewicz had already download them locally to his computer. 

Amazon said,“This was an unfortunate case of human error and an isolated incident. We have resolved the issue with the two customers involved and have taken steps to further improve our processes. We were also in touch on a precautionary basis with the relevant regulatory authorities”

Steve has requested access to his data under new EU(European Union) General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP)

It said that the man had provided the recordings to the magazine and it was able to get in touch with person in question.

It added that the audio files revealed a lot of personal data, including where he lived, who his partner is and his taste in music. It also said that some of the recordings were from when he was in the shower.

Anyone wishing to find out what Amazon records when they communicate with Alexa can do so via Amazon’s website. They can also delete the stored audio files.