Questions Not to Ask Alexa
Twenty things worth not saying to a smart speaker, from passwords and card numbers to door locks, calendars, travel dates and symptoms. Each entry explains the specific risk: something said out loud in a shared room, stored on an account, or actionable by anyone who can reach the microphone.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Alexa, what's my password?
Why ask it
She does not know it, so the harm is in the habit rather than the answer. Saying credentials near an always-listening microphone puts them in earshot of everyone in the room and, if the wake word triggers, into a recording attached to your account.
Alexa, remember that my PIN is 4-2-9-1.
Why ask it
The remember feature works exactly as advertised: it stores the sentence and reads it back to anyone who asks. A guest, a cleaner or a teenager only has to say "what did I ask you to remember" to get it.
Alexa, what's my Wi-Fi password?
Why ask it
People store the network key as a note or a list item because it is convenient, and then it is retrievable by voice by anyone standing in the kitchen. Network access is also access to everything else on the network.
Alexa, add my card number to my shopping list.
Why ask it
Lists and notes sync to the app on every device signed into the account, and they are not designed as a secure store. Anything you would not text to yourself in plain view does not belong in a shopping list.
Alexa, what's my bank balance?
Why ask it
To answer, a banking skill has to be linked, and then your balance is announced out loud to whoever is present. Bank apps exist because a screen shows one person at a time.
Alexa, order that again.
Why ask it
Voice buying places a real order against a real card, and by default there is nothing to distinguish your voice from a child's or a visitor's. If you use it at all, set a spoken confirmation code first.
Alexa, unlock the front door.
Why ask it
A smart lock will generally obey any voice it hears unless you have set an unlock code, and a speaker near a window or letterbox can be heard from outside. Treat unlocking by voice as a convenience with a physical cost.
Alexa, disarm the alarm.
Why ask it
Same problem as the lock, with the added detail that saying it aloud teaches anyone in the house that the alarm can be turned off without a keypad. Keep disarming on a code, a key or a phone.
Alexa, remember where I keep the spare key.
Why ask it
This converts a physical secret into a stored answer that the device will give to anyone who asks it politely. The same applies to gate codes, safe combinations and where the passports live.
Alexa, read my messages.
Why ask it
Reading messages aloud means the room hears them, and rooms contain guests, children and open windows. Notifications on a phone are private by default; a speaker is the opposite.
Alexa, what's on my calendar today?
Why ask it
The answer is a spoken itinerary: where you will be, for how long, and by implication when the house is empty. Harmless with family present, less so with a tradesman in the hallway.
Alexa, when's my flight?
Why ask it
This announces your travel dates, which is the one piece of information most worth keeping off a speaker in a shared or rented space. Check the airline app instead.
Alexa, remind me about my therapy appointment on Thursday.
Why ask it
The reminder will be read out at a time you have not chosen, in whatever room it is set in, to whoever is standing there. Health appointments are better kept on a phone calendar with notifications off the speaker.
Alexa, remind me to collect Ella from school at three.
Why ask it
A recurring reminder tells anyone in the house a child's name, location and exact timing, every day, out loud. This is the kind of routine worth keeping on paper or on a phone.
Alexa, what's my home address?
Why ask it
Devices answer for the account they are linked to, not for the person speaking, which matters in an office, a holiday rental or a house share. Anything about where you live is a poor fit for a shared microphone.
Alexa, is this lump serious?
Why ask it
A voice assistant reads web results aloud; it does not examine anyone and cannot tell you what is wrong. For a new symptom, speak to a doctor or a pharmacist, and treat anything a speaker says as background reading at best.
Alexa, how much of my medication should I take?
Why ask it
Doses depend on the specific drug, strength, your weight and what else you take, and a misheard word changes the answer. A pharmacist will confirm a dose in a minute, in person or by phone.
Alexa, log in to my email account.
Why ask it
Third-party skills sometimes ask for account details in conversation. No legitimate service needs you to speak a username and password to a speaker, and any that asks should be removed rather than answered.
Alexa, who can drop in on this room?
Why ask it
Worth asking of the app rather than the device: drop-in features let approved contacts open live audio into a room, sometimes with only a chime as warning. Check the list and keep it to people you would hand a key to.
Alexa, can you keep this between us?
Why ask it
She cannot, and knowing that is the point. Requests are processed remotely, a history of them sits in the app, and some recordings may be reviewed to improve the service, so the working assumption should be that anything said to a speaker is written down somewhere.
Using a Smart Speaker Without Giving Things Away
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Why speaking to a device is different
- Everything is said out loud. The privacy question is not only what the company keeps, it is who is standing in the room when the answer plays.
- By default the device serves the account, not the person. It does not reliably know whether you, your child or a visitor is speaking.
- Requests leave a history. There is a log in the app you can read, and if there is a log, treat every request as recorded.
- Anything you ask it to remember is a stored answer available to any voice. Convenience and secrecy point in opposite directions here.
Settings worth changing now
- 1Open the companion app and read your voice history. It is the fastest way to see how often the device wakes by accident and what it captured.
- 2Turn on a spoken code for purchases, or switch voice purchasing off entirely.
- 3Require a PIN for anything that unlocks or disarms, and think twice before linking a door lock at all.
- 4Review which contacts can call or drop in, and remove anyone you added years ago and forgot.
- 5Learn where the mute button is. A muted microphone is the only setting that is definitely working.
Common pitfalls
Treating the kitchen speaker as private
It is the least private device in the house: no screen, no lock, and audible to everyone including people at the door. Assume any answer will be heard by whoever is nearest.
Using lists and reminders as a notebook
Shopping lists, notes and reminders are shared, synced and read aloud. Card numbers, codes, medical details and children's schedules all end up more public than intended.
Assuming voice recognition is security
Voice profiles help with personalisation, not with keeping people out. They are not a substitute for a PIN on anything that spends money or opens a door.
Leaving one in a guest room or rental
A speaker linked to your account in a room you do not control gives strangers a line into your calendar, your lists and your shopping. Unplug it, or unlink the account.
What to use instead
- Passwords: a password manager, typed on a screen. Never spoken, never stored in a note.
- Money: the bank's own app, which shows a balance to one person rather than announcing it to a room.
- Health: a pharmacist or a doctor for anything about symptoms or doses, and a written record kept off the speaker.
- Door codes and spare keys: told in person, to the people who need them, and changed when they no longer do.
- Sensitive appointments: a phone calendar with the speaker's reminder announcements switched off.