Thanks @doschicos.
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, tell Alexa “Good Morning” today.
I don’t understand why people are inviting Google (or any other company) into their house to listen to every word that is said and sound that is made. No thank you. Do you really think that this information is not tracked?
Hi all, I’m reading this thread because I’ve been having a discussion about the Echo and similar products with my husband.
I have a question. Does anyone feel nervous about having an electronic device in their home that can listen to conversations? How do you deal with questions about security? And what happens if you turn it on accidentally?
These devices sound helpful but also make me nervous.
https://www.techworld.com/security/does-amazon-alexa-listen-to-my-conversations-3661967/
Of course, I’m sure the alarmist, don’t believe it, so there probably isn’t any point in sharing the article.
I am a realist. I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. 
I doubt it is active spying and eavesdropping, but some “spying” is definitely going on.
@calla1 - Since they don’t record anything until you say the “wake word”…just don’t say the wake word followed by something you wouldn’t want to share (your SSN, credit card etc.).
If you are worried that is is recording you all the time, then don’t say anything of value. Besides, who goes around repeating their credit card number or the like all the time?
You can also turn off the mike, but then you lose the convenience of being able to command it at any time. But it is nice if you know you don’t want to use it for some extended period of time (like to make a phone call were you may be using your CC, bank or SSN number). If you are really worried, you can unplug it.
My mother was a little concerned about these things, so I did a little research to reassure her. And she also came to the realization that even if they listened 24/7 they weren’t going to hear anything interesting.
I just asked Alexa whether she eavesdrops on me and she said no. (Did I offend her?)
She does send something to Amazon when she hears her name (wake word) but the details can be found in the privacy notice in the help section of the Alexa app.
From what I read earlier somewhere is that your “Alexa” conversation is recorded but you can also delete it.
It’s too late for me even if she does spy–to get instant jokes, weather, alarms, turning on lights and turning them back off is too nice. Especially since she’s the only one in the house that’ll turn off a light when asked…
People are very naive.
I think if you put a tinfoil hat on the top of Alexa you are all good.
And some people are too suspicious of ulterior motives.
My BIL received one just to have a friend to talk to. He lives by himself during the week so now he can come home and have a conversation, even if it is just about the weather or news.
Probably no worse then being on a website. If I click on a link in the clothes thread, for example, I start getting ads for that site between games of solitaire. If I didn’t have ad block I’d get ads for whatever the topic is of certain threads.
I can’t live my life being worried about stuff like this. Plus, there are so many things that work by voice command now (my car, my TV) that one needs to be a hermit to avoid everything.
I do hope people who worry about stuff like this are living off the grid in the woods. Because otherwise there is simply no escape. There are cameras everywhere you go. Facial recognition software. Records of every digital transaction and every credit card purchase. All medical information is tracked and stored.
If you are saying things in your house that aren’t covered by any of the above, I’d be very surprised.
My brother in law believes the government is tracking us via contrails in the sky. At least I think that’s what he believes; I tend to tune out everything he says beyond hello.
On the other end of the spectrum, my brother, who actually has government security clearances and works on NRO contracts (he’d have to kill me if he told me more than that,) has social media and communicates with me on the phone and over email and text. If there was something to worry about I would think he would know.
I’m afraid I’m in the same boat 
There is a lot of middle ground between living off the grid and having an ad blocker.
Yesterday, I asked Alexa to sing me a lullaby. She told me she would but every time she sings, she gets sleepy. I am afraid anyone trying to listen in on my daily activities would get the same reaction—sleepy.
Also, every time you search for something, Google is recording that too. If you’re using DuckDuckGo and Signal, well, good, but most people (rightly) conclude that their lives are simply not worth encrypting.
I remember when we used to pick up the neighbor’s cordless phone conversations on our baby monitor - yeah, never was that interesting!