Like most big tech companies, Amazon collects large amounts of data on its users, in part of the purpose of targeting ads and training its Alexa voice models.
Look in the right places, though, and much of this data collection can be minimized or prevented, and you can even opt out of Amazon’s targeted ads entirely. If you’re an Amazon customer in any capacity, it’s worth taking a minute to sweep through the company’s labyrinthine privacy menus and put some limits on its vast data collection apparatus.
Opt out of Amazon’s targeted ads
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
First, visit Amazon’s Advertising Preferences page and select “Do not show me interest-based ads provided by Amazon.” This will prevent the items you buy on the site from creepily following you around the web.
While here, you can also hit the “Delete ad data” button to remove existing information from Amazon’s ad systems.
Limit Alexa data collection
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
If you use an Amazon Echo speaker or other Alexa device, swing by Amazon’s Alexa privacy page and make the following adjustments:
- Under “Voice Recordings,” click the arrow next to “Choose how long to save,” then select “Don’t save recordings.” This stops Amazon from storing the audio of your voice commands.
- Under Smart Home Device History, click the arrow next to “Choose how long to save,” then select three months, the minimum timeframe available.
- Repeat these steps for “Detected Sounds History.”
- Under “Help improve Alexa,” turn off “Use of voice recordings” and “Use messages to improve transcriptions.”
Minimize Amazon device data collection
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
If you have any Fire tablets or Kindle e-readers, you should also head to Amazon’s Devices Privacy page. Select your device, then disable Device Usage Data, Interest-based ads, and Collect App Usage Data. You’ll have to repeat this process for each device on the list.
Hide your Amazon browsing history
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
Jared Newman / Foundry
Finally, consider turning off Amazon browsing history on a shared computer if you don’t want other folks seeing what you looked for. Head to Amazon’s Browsing History page, click the down arrow next to “Manage History,” then toggle Turn Browsing History on/off.
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Author: Jared Newman, Contributor
Jared has been a freelance technology journalist for more than 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he's written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 subscribers, and his Advisorator tech advice newsletter is read by nearly 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master's degree in journalism from NYU and specializes in making complex tech topics easy to understand, from streaming and cord-cutting to neat apps and useful tech tricks. He is based in Cincinnati, OH.