7 Important Amazon privacy settings to change right now

1. See and correct what Amazon thinks it knows about you

Amazon now has an “About You” page that shows the preferences and personal details it uses to personalize your shopping experience. Some of the conclusions may be accurate, outdated or simply wrong. It is worth reviewing, especially if you share an Amazon account with family members.

• On the Amazon app, tap the Me tab (the little icon that looks like a person’s head and shoulders at the bottom of the screen)
• Tap your name
• Select About You
• Review the details Amazon has associated with you
• Tap an item to edit it or remove it from future personalization

On a computer, hover over your name above Account & Lists, click your name or Who’s shopping?, then select About You.

Important: Removing an item changes how Amazon personalizes recommendations. It does not necessarily erase the purchase, search or other activity that led Amazon to make that assumption.

2. Stop Amazon from saving Alexa voice recordings

When you speak to Alexa, Amazon says the audio is sent to the cloud for processing. You can control how long Amazon keeps those voice recordings.

You can also choose to save recordings until you delete them, for 18 months or for 3 months. Amazon says choosing not to retain voice recordings automatically deletes existing voice recordings associated with your account and deletes new recordings after Alexa processes your requests.

However, Amazon says text transcripts of those recordings and typed Alexa requests may still be retained for 30 days after your last interaction in a related Alexa conversation unless you delete them sooner. Amazon also warns that deleting recordings or choosing not to retain them can affect personalized Alexa features such as Voice ID.

3. Check who can see your Amazon Lists

Amazon Lists let you save products you want to buy later, organize gift ideas or share wish lists with family and friends. You can create lists for birthdays, holidays or everyday shopping. However, each list has its own privacy settings, so it’s worth checking who can see what you’ve saved.

How to create an Amazon List on your computer

If you’ve never used Amazon Lists before, here’s how to create one:

• Go to Amazon.com and sign in.
• Hover over Account & Lists near the top right.
• Under Your Lists, select Create a List.
• Enter a name for your list.
• Click Create List.

You can now add products to your list by selecting Add to List on eligible Amazon product pages.

How to check your Amazon List privacy settings

Amazon offers three privacy options: Private, Shared and Public. Private lists are visible only to you, Shared lists are accessible to people with the link and Public lists can be discovered by others.

Here’s how to review your settings:

• Go to Amazon.com and sign in.
• Hover over Account & Lists.
• Select Your Lists.
• Open the list you want to review.
• Click the three-dot menu or More near the top of the list.
• Select Manage List.
• Find the Privacy setting.
• Choose Private if you don’t want others viewing your list.
• Click Save Changes.

Pro tip: You don’t need to create a list if you don’t use this feature. However, if you already have lists, check each one’s privacy settings to make sure only the people you choose can see them.

4. Turn off Amazon Sidewalk if you don’t want to participate

Amazon Sidewalk uses a small portion of your internet bandwidth to create a shared, low-bandwidth network. It helps compatible Echo, Ring and other supported devices stay connected, even when they’re outside the normal range of home Wi-Fi.

Sidewalk does not give your neighbors your Wi-Fi password or direct access to your home network. However, Amazon says Sidewalk is enabled by default on eligible devices unless you’ve previously turned it off.

If you’d rather not participate, here’s how to check the setting using the Alexa app.

• Open the Amazon Alexa app on your phone.
• Tap More.
• Select Settings.
• Tap Account Settings.
• Select Amazon Sidewalk.
• Turn Amazon Sidewalk off if you don’t want to participate.

Note: The Sidewalk setting may not appear if you don’t have an eligible device associated with your account. Turning it off may affect connectivity features that rely on Sidewalk.

5. Turn off your Amazon Browsing History

Amazon can use products you view and recent searches to personalize recommendations. If you would rather not keep adding that activity to your Amazon Browsing History, you can turn the feature off.

Amazon says that when Browsing History is turned off, new items you view will no longer appear on the Browsing History page, recent searches will no longer appear in the search bar and Amazon will stop using your browsing history for personalization.

Turning this setting off does not mean Amazon stops collecting every type of information about how you use its services. Amazon’s privacy notice says it also collects information about interactions with its websites, apps, products and services.

6. Limit Amazon’s personalized advertising

Amazon uses information about your activity to personalize some advertising. You can reduce some of that personalization through Amazon’s advertising privacy controls.

Amazon says opting out of cross-context behavioral ads stops it from using information about your Amazon activity to deliver certain ads to you off Amazon’s own properties and stops certain ads on Amazon that use information provided by advertisers. However, Amazon says it may still show you ads based on your activity on Amazon’s own sites and apps. The separate interest-based ads page lets you review additional advertising preferences.

7. Review what appears on your Amazon public profile

Amazon accounts can include a profile connected to activity such as reviews and other contributions. It is worth checking what information appears there and removing anything you do not want associated publicly with your account.

Amazon changes its menus from time to time, so the exact labels can vary. The important part is to review both the information shown on your profile and the visibility controls for your activity.

Related Links:

• It’s time to take control of your online privacy with Amazon
• How to get a cheap Amazon Prime membership
• Amazon’s new AI tool helps you decide faster