Your devices
It listens locally for a wake word and sends audio to the cloud once triggered, including on false triggers. What happens next now differs sharply by company, and old advice gets this wrong. Amazon saves recordings by default and manually reviews a very small fraction unless you turn off 'Use of voice recordings'. On 28 March 2025 Amazon removed the option that let three Echo models process some requests on the device, replacing it with 'Don't save recordings', which still sends audio to Amazon and deletes it after processing. Apple has not retained Siri audio by default since 2019. Google stopped saving Assistant audio by default in 2019, but the Gemini app that is replacing Assistant keeps activity on by default, has a subset of conversations read by human reviewers, and keeps those for up to three years.
Amazon: turn off 'Use of voice recordings' and 'Save recordings'. Google: turn off Keep Activity in the Gemini app. Apple: leave Improve Siri off. Each is three or four screens deep and none is off for you already.
When there are several devices and brands, or a speaker in a room where you discuss work or clients.
A · Verified
Checked 4 Sep 2026 · Review by Dec 2026
Amazon voice-recording help pages, Apple Newsroom statement on Siri privacy, Google Gemini Apps privacy documentation. Amazon's 28 March 2025 removal of on-device processing corroborated by TechCrunch and The Register.
Grading explained on the home page. Every correction we have made is published.