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Hi, Alexa. How Do I Stop You From Listening In On Me?

Photo: Glenn Harvey
Photo: Glenn Harvey
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Hi, Alexa. How Do I Stop You From Listening In On Me?

Photo: Glenn Harvey
Photo: Glenn Harvey

Many of us ask the digital companions in our homes, whether it’s Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri or Google Assistant, to handle innocuous tasks like setting a timer and playing music.

What most of us may not realize is that in some instances, there might be a person listening in, too.

In two separate reports in The Guardian and Bloomberg News, whistle-blowers recently said they had listened in on Siri recordings and Alexa activations that inadvertently recorded couples having sex and criminals making drug deals. Another publication, VRT, chronicled how a Google subcontractor shared more than 1,000 excerpts from Google recordings, which journalists then used to identify some individuals.

In the tech industry, it’s an open secret that artificial intelligence isn’t all that smart yet. It takes lots of people manually sifting through data to train the computing systems. That means humans occasionally cull through voice recordings to train Alexa, Siri and Google to understand the nuances of speech, such as distinguishing spoken words like “Austin” from “Boston,” or “U2” from “YouTube.”

But tech companies have been opaque in disclosing these practices to us. And they may also have overreached in the types of recordings that they gather.

Google, Apple and Amazon have since publicly said that less than 1 percent of recordings were subject to human review. Apple and Google also said that they suspended their human review programs, while Amazon expanded its Alexa assistant to include a suite of privacy controls.

That got me wondering: What can we do to protect our privacy with these smart assistants, short of chucking them into the recycling bin?

The good news is that there are steps we can take. Amazon and Google offer the ability to disable human vetting for their virtual assistants. Apple has said it plans to release a software update that will let people opt in to its program, which involves humans grading Siri samples for quality control, rather than being part of the program by default.

And there are other things we can do, such as deleting recordings and turning off sensors, to minimize the information shared with the companies.

Here’s a comprehensive guide on what to do to protect your privacy with each of the virtual assistants.

How to curtail Alexa data shared with Amazon
Among smart assistants, Alexa has the most comprehensive and straightforward set of privacy controls. Amazon recently released the Alexa privacy hub, which has a thorough explanation of the types of data collected by the virtual assistant and how to change its privacy settings.

Here’s how to opt out of human vetting:
Open the Alexa app on your smartphone and tap Settings and then select Alexa Privacy.

Tap Manage How Your Data Improves Alexa.

For the control that says Help Improve Amazon Services and Develop New Features, toggle the switch to the off position.

Here’s how to delete your voice recordings:
In the same Alexa Privacy menu, select Review Voice History.

In date range, select the time frame of recordings you want to delete, such as All History.

Tap Delete All Recordings for All History.

Here are other precautions to take with microphones and cameras:
Alexa devices include a physical button to disable their microphones. Hit the kill switch whenever you are having sensitive conversations. The device will illuminate with a red light to indicate that the microphone is off.

Some Alexa devices, like the Echo Spot alarm clock, have a built-in camera. The easiest way to disable it is to say, “Alexa, turn the camera off.” If you still feel uncomfortable with the camera, consider buying a cheap webcam cover that can slide over the lens.

Amazon said in a statement that it takes customer privacy seriously. “We continuously review our practices and procedures to ensure we’re providing customers with the best experiences and privacy choices,” the company said.

How to delete your Apple Siri recordings
Siri is the most lacking in privacy controls among the virtual assistants, and the process to manage user data is the least straightforward.

For example, Apple does not offer an option to let people opt in to its so-called grading program, though it has said it plans to do so in a future software update. In addition, there is no ability to review Siri recordings associated with your account, and deleting recordings is cumbersome.

Siri does take some steps to mask your identity. When you make requests with an iPhone, for example, the device associates those with a random identifier instead of your Apple account ID, according to the company. To reset that random identifier, you can turn off Siri and then turn it back on.

Disabling Siri will also delete your data associated with it, including recordings.

Here’s how to disable Siri on an iPhone to erase your data and reset your identifier:
Open the Settings app, then tap General, then Keyboards. In the Enable Dictation control, switch it to the off position.

Return to the Settings app. Select Siri & Search. Then disable the switches for Listen for “Hey Siri” and Press Side Button for Siri. You will then see a message asking if you want to disable Siri, which will remove your data from Apple’s servers. Tap Turn Off Siri and your Siri history will be deleted.

To re-enable Siri, go back to each of those settings and turn them back on.

Some of the sensitive recordings uploaded to Siri appeared to have come from unintentional activations, like when the crown of the Apple Watch was pressed down by accident, which summoned the assistant. (In my experience, this can happen when leaning a hand against a couch cushion.)

So here is a precaution to take with an Apple Watch:
To prevent the watch crown from triggering Siri, disable the Siri side button on the iPhone. In the Settings app, tap on Siri & Search, then toggle off Press Side Button for Siri. This will simultaneously disable the shortcut on the watch.

Apple declined to comment beyond an earlier statement announcing the suspension of its Siri-grading program.

How to protect your privacy on Google Home
Google offers some controls for tweaking privacy settings for Google Assistant on Android phones and Google Home smart speakers, among other products.

While Google’s human review program is suspended, you can still make sure you’re not a part of it by opting out. The search company also lets you automatically delete Google Assistant requests made after a period of time.

Here’s how to disable human reviews:
Visit Google’s web tool called Activity controls.

Scroll down to Voice & Audio Activity. Toggle this switch off.

Here’s how to set your recordings to automatically delete:
Again, visit Google’s Activity controls web tool.

Under Web & App Activity, click Manage Activity.

Click Choose to Delete Automatically. Then click Keep for 3 months then delete automatically.

A Google spokesman declined to comment and referred to a blog post, in which the company described its process of working with human language reviewers to improve speech recognition.

(The New York Times)

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AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
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AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

British scientists said Thursday that a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change.

Icebergs release enormous volumes of freshwater when they melt on the open water, affecting global climate patterns and altering ocean currents and ecosystems, reported AFP.

But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.

To fill in the gap, the British Antarctic Survey has developed an AI system that automatically identifies and names individual icebergs at birth and tracks their sometimes decades-long journey to a watery grave.

Using satellite images, the tool captures the distinct shape of icebergs as they break off -- or calve -- from glaciers and ice sheets on land.

As they disintegrate over time, the machine performs a giant puzzle problem, linking the smaller "child" fragments back to the "parent" and creating detailed family trees never before possible at this scale.

It represents a huge improvement on existing methods, where scientists pore over satellite images to visually identify and track only the largest icebergs one by one.

The AI system, which was tested using satellite observations over Greenland, provides "vital new information" for scientists and improves predictions about the future climate, said the British Antarctic Survey.

Knowing where these giant slabs of freshwater were melting into the ocean was especially crucial with ice loss expected to increase in a warming world, it added.

"What's exciting is that this finally gives us the observations we've been missing," Ben Evans, a machine learning expert at the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement.

"We've gone from tracking a few famous icebergs to building full family trees. For the first time, we can see where each fragment came from, where it goes and why that matters for the climate."

This use of AI could also be adapted to aid safe passage for navigators through treacherous polar regions littered by icebergs.

Iceberg calving is a natural process. But scientists say the rate at which they were being lost from Antarctica is increasing, probably because of human-induced climate change.

 

Technology

AMD Predicts Weaker First-Quarter Sales, Shares Plunge on Nvidia Comparisons

An AMD logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration created on August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An AMD logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration created on August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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AMD Predicts Weaker First-Quarter Sales, Shares Plunge on Nvidia Comparisons

An AMD logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration created on August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An AMD logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration created on August 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday forecast a slight decline in quarterly revenue, raising concerns about whether it ​can effectively challenge Nvidia in the booming AI market and sending its shares tumbling 8% in after-hours trade.

The lackluster prediction comes despite an unexpected boost from sales of certain artificial intelligence chips to China, which began in the last quarter after the Trump administration approved a license for orders that AMD received in early 2025.

And without those sales to China which generated $390 million, AMD's data-center segment would have missed estimates for the fourth quarter.

AMD said it expects revenue of about $9.8 billion this quarter, plus or minus $300 million. That's down from $10.27 billion in the fourth-quarter which was up 34% year-on-year and ahead of LSEG ‌estimates for $9.67 billion.

PALES ‌NEXT TO NVIDIA

Though AMD is seen as one of the ‌few ⁠contenders ​that can seriously ‌challenge Nvidia, investors noted the stark contrast between the two companies' performances. AMD expects an adjusted gross margin of 55% this quarter. Nvidia has said it expects adjusted gross margin in the mid-70% range during its fiscal 2027.

"The expectations for large blowout quarters for AI-related hardware companies have skewed what the market is looking for," said Bob O'Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Research.

The forecast for the current first quarter includes $100 million from sales to China, where the situation remains "dynamic," AMD CEO Lisa Su said on a conference call with investors.

The US government ⁠has placed restrictions on the exports of advanced chips to China, but AMD received licenses to sell modified versions of its MI300 series ‌of AI chips there. Its MI308 chip competes with Nvidia's H20 ‍chip in China.

OPENAI SALES

AMD has accelerated its ‍product launches and is moving into selling full AI systems to better compete against Nvidia, which now ‍provides "rack-scale" systems that combine GPUs, CPUs and networking gear.

Last year, it entered into a multi-year deal to supply AI chips to ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, which would bring in tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue and give the startup the option to buy up to roughly 10% of the chipmaker.

Su reiterated on Tuesday that the company ​expects sales of a new flagship AI server to OpenAI and others to rise rapidly in the second half of this year, saying a global memory-chip crunch will not ⁠slow its plans.

"I do not believe that we will be supply-limited in terms of the ramp that we put in place," Su said.

BEYOND OPENAI

As Big Tech and governments across the globe double down on investing in AI hardware, shares in Santa Clara, California-based AMD have doubled since the start of 2025, outperforming a 60% bump in the broader chip index.

But analysts remain concerned that AMD's success remains tied to a handful of customers that rivals such as Nvidia could try to poach. Reuters reported this week that Nvidia made a $20 billion move to hire most of chip startup Groq's founders after OpenAI held chip supply discussions with the startup.

"Growth appears concentrated in large deployments and specific regions, and China shipments are significant enough to influence a quarter," said eMarketer analyst Gadjo Sevilla.

Revenue in AMD's key data-center segment grew 39% to $5.38 billion in the ‌fourth quarter. But excluding sales of the MI308, which is a data-center chip, that revenue would have been $4.99 billion, below estimates of $5.07 billion.

Technology

Switch 2 Sales Boost Nintendo Results but Chip Shortage Looms

This photo taken on November 4, 2025 shows a woman taking photos of a Super Mario figure at the Nintendo Tokyo store in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 4, 2025 shows a woman taking photos of a Super Mario figure at the Nintendo Tokyo store in Tokyo. (AFP)
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Switch 2 Sales Boost Nintendo Results but Chip Shortage Looms

This photo taken on November 4, 2025 shows a woman taking photos of a Super Mario figure at the Nintendo Tokyo store in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 4, 2025 shows a woman taking photos of a Super Mario figure at the Nintendo Tokyo store in Tokyo. (AFP)

The runaway success of the Switch 2 console drove up Nintendo's net profit by more than 50 percent in the nine months to December, the Japanese video game giant said Tuesday.

But a global memory chip shortage, created by frenzied demand for artificial intelligence hardware, could push up manufacturing costs.

The Switch 2 became the world's fastest-selling games console after launching to a fan frenzy last summer.

It is the successor to the original Switch, which soared in popularity during the pandemic when games such as "Animal Crossing" struck a chord during long lockdowns.

Both are hybrid devices that can be connected to a TV or used on-the-go.

In April-December, net profit jumped 51.3 percent year-on-year to 358.9 billion yen ($2.3 billion), and revenue nearly doubled on-year to 1.9 trillion yen, Nintendo said.

But the firm kept its annual unit sales target for the Switch 2 steady at 19 million, and also held its full-year net profit forecast of 350 billion yen.

"Nintendo Switch 2 got off to a good start following its launch on June 5 and unit sales continued to grow through the holiday season," the company said.

Nearly 17.4 million Switch 2 devices were sold in the nine-month period, it added.

"Maintaining momentum is certainly a big focus for Nintendo," Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit and Krysta Podcast told AFP.

A lack of heavy-hitting first-party new games for the Switch 2 in coming months risks hindering growth, although third-party titles such as "Resident Evil Requiem" should help fill the gap, she said.

Nintendo said Tuesday it planned to release "Mario Tennis Fever" this month and "Pokemon Pokopia" in March.

While the firm is diversifying into hit movies and theme parks, consoles remain the core of its business.

The Switch 1 has now sold 155.37 million units -- overtaking the Nintendo DS console to be its best-selling hardware of all time.

But soaring prices for memory chips, used in gaming consoles as well as phones, laptops and other electronics, will likely be a headwind for the company.

Their prices have been pushed up as chipmakers focus on producing the advanced memory chips in huge demand to power AI data centers.

"Nintendo and other console manufacturers are publicly keeping quiet about the impact of the shortage," gaming industry consultant Serkan Toto told AFP.

But "users can forget the past when consoles always became cheaper in tandem with component costs falling over time", with price hikes potentially on the way in 2026, he said.

Yang said she thought a price increase for the Switch 2 "is not out of the question" but added that Nintendo "would likely exhaust all other options" before doing so.