Alexa ranks as the worst voice assistant when it comes to data collection

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At this point, just about everybody should know that bringing a voice assistant into your household is essentially inviting big tech companies the opportunity to harvest as much of your data as possible.

A new study has recently come out that shows just how much data these devices collect for their overlords, and Amazon’s Alexa has revealed itself to be the most intrusive of them all.

The study went hand-in-hand with a survey from Reviews.org which takes deep dive into just what types of, and how much, data that the major voice assistants of the world are collecting.

Out of the five assistants researched, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, Samsung Bixby, and Microsoft Cortana, Alexa was found to collect more than anyone else.

The study looked at 48 different data points as possible collection points for the voice assistants. It looked at whether or not a voice assistant collected data like your name, age, and address, as well as more intricate information such as IP addresses, browsing history, and content downloads. Out of the 48 data points, Alexa was found to collect on 37 of those points.

The statistics are really all over the place, and all of the voice assistants collect an insane amount of data. Samsung’s Bixby collects on 34 different points and Google’s Assistant was the least invasive, still collecting on 28 of the 48 data points.

When it comes to protection and privacy, these voice assistants aren’t generally placed at the top of the list of secure devices. By their very nature, these devices and apps are designed to learn as much about us as possible so that they can function to their full ability.

READ MORE: Alexa literally encouraged kids to play a game that electrocutes them

Most of these devices and apps offer ways to somewhat stifle the amount of data collection that happens on the back end, but the only real way to stop Alexa and similar devices from collecting your information is to refrain from using them at all.

Make sure to check out Reviews.org’s full coverage, as there is even more that you can learn about these voice assistants.

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