{
  "slug": "alexa",
  "name": "Alexa",
  "maker": "Amazon",
  "category": "home",
  "verdict": "n",
  "answer": "No. Everything you ask Alexa is sent to Amazon's cloud, and Amazon keeps the recording unless you choose not to save it. Calls and Drop Ins between Echo devices are the exception: Amazon says they're end-to-end encrypted by default.",
  "title": "Is Alexa encrypted? Voice recordings, calls and Live View",
  "description": "Amazon hears and, by default, keeps what you ask Alexa. Calls and Drop Ins are end-to-end encrypted by default. Since 2025, every request goes to the cloud.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "cam",
      "status": "na",
      "words": "Not offered",
      "note": "Amazon lists calls, Live View and photos among what Echo cameras do, but no saved camera recordings, as of 25 October 2026.",
      "sources": [
        3
      ],
      "label": "Recordings"
    },
    {
      "key": "live",
      "status": "p",
      "words": "Partly",
      "note": "Drop In is end-to-end encrypted by default, but Amazon doesn't say the same for Live View, which streams to its cloud.",
      "sources": [
        3
      ],
      "label": "Live view"
    },
    {
      "key": "mic",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Amazon can read it",
      "note": "Every request goes to Amazon's cloud, and Amazon saves the recording and transcript unless you change that.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "label": "Voice commands"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [],
  "keys": "Amazon holds the keys to your voice requests; it says calls and Drop Ins are end-to-end encrypted unless you turn on enhanced calling features.",
  "can_see": "Your voice recordings and transcripts, what Alexa did in response, your smart home device history, and when an Echo camera detects someone nearby.",
  "business": null,
  "fix": {
    "title": "Stop Amazon keeping your recordings, once",
    "steps": [
      "In the Alexa app, tap More › Alexa Privacy › Manage Your Alexa Data.",
      "Under Voice Recordings, tap Choose how long to save recordings, then Voice Recordings and Transcripts.",
      "Choose Don't save, then tap Confirm."
    ],
    "after": "This deletes your saved recordings and stops new ones being kept. Amazon still processes each request in its cloud and keeps the text transcript until the chat has been quiet for 30 days. Voice ID stops working."
  },
  "fix_line": "Stop saving recordings: Alexa app › More › Alexa Privacy › Manage Your Alexa Data › Choose how long to save recordings.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "does-alexa-record-everything",
      "q": "Does Alexa record everything I say?",
      "a": "No. Amazon says Echo devices listen only for the wake word, and no audio is stored or sent to the cloud until they hear it or you press the action button [1]. A light, such as the blue ring, shows when audio is going to Amazon [1]. If you join Alexa+, Follow Up Mode is turned on, so you can make follow-up requests without saying the wake word again [1].\n\nOnce you speak to Alexa, the recording goes to Amazon's cloud, where it's turned into text and processed [1]. By default, Amazon saves all your recordings and transcripts [2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "alexa-2025-change",
      "q": "What changed with Alexa voice recordings in 2025?",
      "a": "Until 28 March 2025, three Echo models could handle requests on the device with a setting called Do Not Send Voice Recordings. Amazon dropped it, so those requests now go to the cloud too [4]. Amazon said it was expanding Alexa with generative AI features that rely on its cloud [4].\n\nYou can still choose Don't save, so recordings are deleted after Alexa answers. The text transcripts are kept until the chat has been quiet for 30 days [1][2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "are-alexa-calls-encrypted",
      "q": "Are Alexa calls and Drop Ins encrypted?",
      "a": "Yes, by default. Amazon says audio and video calls and Drop Ins between Echo devices or the Alexa app are end-to-end encrypted [3]. If you turn on enhanced features such as group Drop In, or call captions, calls are decrypted and processed in Amazon's cloud, though Amazon says it doesn't store them [3].\n\nWhen Alexa calls a normal phone number, the part of the call on the phone network isn't encrypted [3]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Alexa, Echo Devices, and Your Privacy",
      "publisher": "Amazon",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GVP69FUJ48X9DK8V",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Personalize your Alexa Experience",
      "publisher": "Amazon",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=23608614011",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Alexa and Alexa Device FAQs",
      "publisher": "Amazon",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201602230",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Amazon's Echo is ending its 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' feature, starting March 28",
      "publisher": "TechCrunch",
      "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/15/amazons-echo-will-send-all-voice-recordings-to-the-cloud-starting-march-28/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "google-nest",
    "ring",
    "apple-home"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/alexa/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}