How to Delete Voice Data from Google Home and Amazon Echo

Smart assistants are all the rage now in the global market. With Amazon and Google releasing Alexa and Google Assistant, respectively, tech enthusiasts have been eager to get their hands on the Echo and Home devices.

Amazon has taken the online stores by storm with its range of Echo devices and Google is also not far behind, especially in the western hemisphere. Users from around the world have posted videos of conversations with Alexa and Google.

Even South Park, the popular TV show, has done episodes on these smart assistants, creating a voice command loop between the two in hundreds of houses in America.

However, this ascension to popularity has not been devoid of controversies and doubt. A lot of people are concerned about their privacy of data around Alexa and Google. Queries such as “Is Alexa listening to everything I say to my friends” or “Is Google eavesdropping on my private conversations” or even “Is Alexa a CIA spy” have surfaced over the past few months.

In order to nullify all such doubts, it’s better to clear your data from both Alexa and Google once in a while and here’s how you do it.

Delete Voice Recordings from Amazon Echo

Alexa records all the voice requests and you can delete them from your companion Alexa app anytime.

Step 1.

Launch the Alexa app from your Android or iOS phone. Make sure you’re logged on to the same account as the one being used by the Echo devices at your home or office.

Step 2.

Tap on the hamburger icon (three-dot icon) at the top right corner and go to Settings > History.

Step 3.

You should now be able to see all your voice requests with Alexa listed chronologically in History. Tap on any one of them to listen. If you want to delete a certain file, click on Delete Voice Recordings and the file will be erased.

Mass Delete All Data from Amazon Alexa Account

If you wish to erase all voice recordings from your Alexa account on Amazon instead of picking individual files and deleting them, you can do it from the Amazon website.

Step 1.

Go to amazon.com/mycd or amazon.in/mycd (if you are from India) on your web browser.

Step 2.

Navigate to Your Devices > Echo/Echo Dot/Plus. You will notice a hamburger icon beside the device you have. Click on the icon to find the Manage Voice Recordings option. This will lead you to a pop-up (like the one above) that will prompt you to delete all voice recordings from your Amazon Alexa account.

Delete Voice Recordings from Google Home

Similar to the above method, Google also requires you to visit their website in order to delete voice data from its smart assistant’s log.

Step 1.

Visit https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity on your web browser.

Step 2.

On the top of the screen, you will see a drop-down button named as Filter by Date and Product. Once you click on it, you will be shown a list of filters.

Step 3.

Tick the Voice and Audio option and click on the Search button. You will now see all your voice recordings from the specific date range and you can delete them by clicking on the action overflow button and tapping on Delete.

Bonus Step: You can also delete all your recordings at once by clicking on the action overflow button in the Search bar and hitting Delete results.

Delete Voice Data from Google Home App

The My Activity log can be accessed from the Google Home companion app on your Android or iOS phone and you can delete your voice data from there as well.

Step 1.

Open Google Home app and tap on the hamburger icon at the top-left corner.

Step 2.

Click on More Settings and select My Activity from the bottom of the list.

Step 3.

Click on the action overflow button beside the individual voice recordings or day summaries and hit Delete activity.

Final Words

Although both Alexa and Google shun every question regarding privacy malfunction right away, skeptics find it too hard to believe that the smart assistants are so innocent.

So, if you’re a proud owner of either an Amazon Echo or a Google Home device and also want to keep your private life away from public eye, this is how you would purge all your voice data from both the smart assistants.