Amazon Privacy Policy Review

This review explains the Amazon.com Privacy Notice in plain language, for shoppers, parents, and older adults. It was first checked on September 23, 2026, and rechecked on October 31, 2026, when we also added Amazon’s Alexa privacy answers. The notice was still dated June 30, 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every Amazon device page.

Primary sources: Amazon.com Privacy Notice, Alexa, Echo Devices, and Your Privacy, and Generative AI Development Disclosure.

Snapshot

• Covers Amazon products, services, stores, websites, devices, and apps that point to this notice.
• Using the services is treated as consent to the notice.
• Collects what you type, automatic click and device data, voice and images when you use those features, and information from carriers and other companies.
• Says it is not in the business of selling customers’ personal information, and still shares order details with third-party sellers and advertising identifiers with ad companies.
• Alexa voice recordings go to Amazon’s cloud. You can review them, delete them, or choose not to save them.
• Does not sell products for purchase by children. Under 18 requires a parent or guardian. Under 13 is not knowingly collected without a parent’s consent.

What they collect

Amazon stores information you provide, such as name, address, payment information, age, and the content of reviews. Automatic information includes IP address, the location of your device or computer, the full URL clickstream, products you viewed or searched for, and purchase history. Physical stores “may use cameras, computer vision, sensors, and other technology” to gather information about activity in the store.

Amazon also points readers to separate Additional State-Specific Privacy Disclosures and a Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure for rights under U.S. state privacy laws. If you live in a state with its own privacy law, those pages say what extra rights you have.

Alexa and Echo: what is recorded

Amazon’s Alexa privacy page answers the question most people ask. By default, Amazon says, an Echo listens only for its wake word, and no audio is stored or sent to the cloud until it hears the wake word or you press the Action button. When it is sending, a light ring turns blue, or a blue bar shows on an Echo Show. The recording includes a fraction of a second of audio before the wake word.

What you ask is sent to Amazon’s cloud, where Amazon also makes a text transcript. Amazon says it uses Alexa interactions to train its machine learning models, and that people review “an extremely small sample” of interactions to improve Alexa.

Two things that are easy to miss:

• Alexa+ turns on Follow Up Mode. Amazon says that when you join Alexa+, Follow Up Mode is turned on for your compatible Echo devices and the Alexa app. That lets you keep talking without repeating the wake word, so the device can record a follow-up request without hearing “Alexa” again. A visual indicator shows when it is listening.
• Deleting recordings does not delete everything. Amazon says it may keep other records of your Alexa interactions, such as actions Alexa took, products you searched for, shopping lists, and reminders.

Who gets the data

Amazon says customer information is shared with subsidiaries it controls that follow this notice or practices at least as protective. Third-party sellers, app providers, and Alexa skill makers receive personal information related to those transactions. Service providers can use it only to perform their job.

For ads, Amazon says it does not share your name or information that directly identifies you. It does share an advertising identifier, such as a cookie or a code derived from an email address, and an estimate of ad value. It says it does not share specific purchases, product views, or searches with ad companies. Some of those companies “also use this information to serve you relevant ads from other advertisers.”

Easy to miss

• The first paragraph says that by using Amazon Services, you are consenting to the notice. There is no separate “I agree” step described there.
• “We are not in the business of selling” is not the same as “no one else receives data.” Sellers get transaction details. Ad companies get identifiers.
• To browse without linking history to your account, Amazon says you must sign out and block cookies. Signing out alone is not the step they describe.
• Unless stated otherwise, the current notice applies to all information Amazon already has about you and your account. Amazon also says it will not materially weaken protections for information collected in the past without the consent of affected customers.

New technology

The notice says Amazon uses machine learning and artificial intelligence “to support and enhance the customer experience,” including “using data to develop or deploy our generative AI models and services.”

The Generative AI Development Disclosure, checked on September 23, 2026, says training data may include licensed and proprietary datasets, synthetic data, open-source data, and publicly available content, including web-crawled data. Those datasets “may contain public domain content, rights-protected material, and in some cases, personal information or aggregate consumer information.” It does not say, in the pages opened for this review, that your order history is the training set. Do not treat those as the same claim. Alexa is different: Amazon’s Alexa privacy page does say your Alexa interactions are used to train its machine learning models.

Store cameras and computer vision are a separate new-technology issue for anyone who shops in an Amazon or Amazon-powered store.

Kids and families

Amazon says it does not sell products for purchase by children. It sells children’s products for adults to buy. Anyone under 18 may use the services only with a parent or guardian. Amazon says it does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. Amazon links a separate Children’s Privacy Disclosure from the notice; it was not reviewed here. Household and Prime settings are visible in Your Account.

If there is an Echo in a child’s room, the Alexa settings below apply to everything the device hears after the wake word, including a child’s requests. Choosing not to save voice recordings is a reasonable default for a family device.

Older adults

Order history, payment settings, and voice recordings tied to the account can be viewed after signing in. Amazon may ask you to verify identity before it discloses personal information. Use a unique password, and sign out on a shared computer. The notice says that blocking cookies will also block the cart and checkout, so a shared computer needs a sign-out habit, not only a cookie block.

For a parent who uses an Echo for reminders or calls, show them the microphone off button. Amazon says pressing it disconnects power to the microphones and lights a red indicator, and the device cannot record even if someone says the wake word.

What you can turn off

1. Open Your Ads Privacy Choices, linked from the notice’s footer, to adjust personalized advertising.
2. Turn off recommendation use for an item with the “Use this item for recommendations” toggle, and edit browsing history from Your Account.
3. For Alexa, open More, then Alexa Privacy in the Alexa app, or go to amazon.com/alexaprivacysettings. Amazon says you can review and delete voice recordings, transcripts and typed requests there, set them to delete automatically after 3 or 18 months, or choose not to save voice recordings at all.
4. Turn on the short audible tone in the Alexa app settings if you want to hear when audio is sent to the cloud.
5. On a non-Amazon phone, location and contacts permissions are in the phone’s settings.

One trade-off Amazon states plainly: if you choose not to save any voice recordings, voice IDs on your account are deleted and voice ID stops working. If you choose not to save recordings, Amazon says transcripts and typed requests are still kept for 30 days after your last interaction in a chat, then deleted.

What this means for you

Amazon keeps a detailed picture of what you search, view, and buy, and it uses that picture for recommendations and for its own ads. The easy-to-miss part is the gap between “we do not sell your information” and the identifiers and seller records that still leave Amazon. If you have an Echo, the most useful five-minute fix is in Alexa Privacy: pick automatic deletion or no saved recordings.

Does Amazon sell personal information?

The notice says Amazon is not in the business of selling customers’ personal information to others. It also describes sharing transaction data with third parties and advertising identifiers with ad companies. Read both sentences together.

Is Alexa always listening?

Amazon says the device listens locally for the wake word and sends nothing to the cloud until it hears it or you press the Action button. A blue light shows when it is sending. With Follow Up Mode, which Alexa+ turns on, it can keep listening briefly for a follow-up without the wake word.

Can I delete my Alexa recordings?

Yes. In the Alexa app, go to More, then Alexa Privacy, or visit amazon.com/alexaprivacysettings. You can delete recordings, set automatic deletion after 3 or 18 months, or choose not to save recordings. Amazon may still keep other records, such as actions Alexa took and your shopping lists.

Is my shopping used to train AI?

The privacy notice says Amazon uses data to develop or deploy generative AI models. The AI disclosure says training sets can include personal information in some cases. Neither page lists your past orders as a training source. Alexa interactions are different: Amazon says they are used to train its models. If the distinction matters to you, ask Amazon through Data Privacy Queries, which the notice links for access and deletion requests.

This is not legal advice. Checked October 31, 2026. The notice says Amazon’s business changes constantly and that you should check the page often.

Related: A Password Manager for a Household. Back to Privacy Policies Watch