For nearly a decade Amazon's Alexa has been invited into the homes of millions as a virtual assistant to lend a helping hand to routines, entertainment, shopping, and more.
However, in the build-up to Amazon's AI-backed Alexa Plus upgrade, owners of the voice assistant are faced with a surprise ultimatum that could see the assistant no longer welcome in many homes.
In a new change to its privacy policy, Amazon has revealed in an email to customers that Echo smart speakers and Echo Show smart displays will no longer have the option to stop voice recordings from being sent to Amazon.
According to Amazon, this data will be used to train its new Alexa Plus model to improve its conversational abilities, and that voice command recordings will be deleted after they are processed.
Still, some users have taken to social media to voice their concerns, with many forming a similar opinion: it's time to de-Amazon.
Luckily for those people, a viable and historically better user privacy option may be on the horizon, as one analyst reveals that an Apple-branded alternative is still on the cards for a 2025 release.
Amazon makes troubling privacy U-turn with Alexa
This is a major change in Amazon's policy that will undoubtedly leave many worried about their privacy, especially given the company's previous blunders in this area.
In 2018, Amazon accidentally sent 1,700 voice recordings captured by an Alexa device to the wrong user.
Then in 2019, it was discovered that Amazon was ordering thousands of employees to listen to and manually annotate parts of Alexa voice command recordings.
Attempting to ease concerns, Amazon reports that all voice data will be encrypted in transit to the company's secure cloud, "designed with layers of security protections to keep customer information safe."
Ultimately, Echo users are left with one decision to make: Agree to share your voice data or stop using your Amazon device.
However, those struggling with the latter option may be provided with some hope, as reportedly Amazon's privacy fumble leaves the door open for a new Apple product to save the day later this year.
Could Apple's rumored HomePod save the day?
Apple has long been rumored to be working on a HomePod follow-up, and this may be the year we finally see it unveiled.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes that Apple's new HomePod will be "Apple's most significant release of the year" — which is a bold claim to make in the face of recent M4 MacBook Air, iPhone 16E, and M3 iPad Air releases, not to mention this year's expected arrival of M5 Apple Silicon devices alongside a fresh selection of iPhone 17 smartphones, including the rumored all-new iPhone 17 Air.
While more recent rumors have suggested that Apple's new HomePod, which is expected to include a display for the first time, could be delayed for some time following issues with Apple's own AI-backed Siri upgrades.
However, popular Apple analyst Min-Chi Kuo has recently revealed on X that we can still expect to see Apple unveil the device in the latter half of 2025.
Given Apple's firm stance on user privacy, something the company is even willing to fight the UK government over, this could be the smart home accessory of choice for many who prioritize privacy in the home.
Unfortunately, we still can't say for sure exactly when in the latter half of 2025 we could expect to see Apple's new HomePod, or how much more this improved model may cost.
However, authoritative voices in the space are at the very least agreeing that we'll be seeing it sooner, rather than later.
For some Amazon Alexa Echo users, it may not be able to arrive fast enough.
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