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There’s no arguing the convenience of home voice control. By integrating a voice assistant with your smart home, you can manage music, lights, locks, and even smart home scenes without lifting a finger.

Still, convenience doesn’t seem to override privacy concerns. According to Statista, 45% of smart speaker users worry about voice data privacy, while 42% worry about voice data hacking.

Are these concerns justified or baseless? Find out below. Our smart home consultants explore three unsettling facts about voice privacy and suggest a better voice assistant for your Phoenix, AZ home.

SEE ALSO: Meet Josh.ai – Sophisticated Voice Control for Luxury Smart Homes

1.      Unauthorized Listening

Popular voice assistants like Amazon Alexa are supposed to listen only when triggered by their wake word. But research shows that Amazon Echo speakers sometimes wake and record dialogue without hearing the correct wake word. Has your Echo device done this, too?

While this doesn’t happen often, a few times is enough to be concerned if you’re regularly discussing sensitive information at home related to things like finances, health, and work. To be safe, we recommend muting your smart speakers when you’re not using them.

2.      Cloud-Stored Data

What if your Amazon smart speaker does unintentionally record a private conversation without your knowledge? That information is now stored in the cloud and could be analyzed for software improvements and marketing purposes. In fact, all your voice transcripts are stored in the cloud.

Rightfully so, cloud storage raises concerns among smart speaker users who worry about cybercriminals gaining access to their data. Fortunately, Amazon offers users the ability to delete stored recordings.

3.      Targeted Advertising

Alexa stores and uses your data to improve its functions and your experience. But it may also use your data to serve up personalized ads and product recommendations. For example, if you ask Alexa to order cat food, you may see pet-related ads and recommendations on the Amazon site the next day.

This feature may not bother some users who enjoy the personalization, but if you want to opt-out of interest-based ads or personalized product recommendations, you can in your Amazon account settings.

Is There a More Secure Voice Assistant?

While these privacy concerns shouldn’t be overlooked, Amazon Alexa is improving privacy measures all the time. They’re imperfect, but their intentions aren’t ominous. If you like your Echo speakers, just exercise a bit of caution, and you’ll be fine!

Still, if “fine” isn’t enough, there’s a better alternative: Josh.ai! Josh.ai is a sophisticated, privacy-focused voice control system designed specifically for home automation.

Josh.ai never sells your data nor uses it for marketing purposes. It also prioritizes local processing rather than sending commands to the cloud—granting you a more secure smart home experience. Users also have complete control over their system’s chat history, can limit access for others, and can physically disconnect Josh Nano microphones when not in use.

Have we piqued your interest? Read more standout features of Josh.ai voice control! You can also learn more about privacy-focused voice control for your home by contacting our smart home consultants in the chat box below or through our contact form. We’d love to hear from you.

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