On March 28, ahead of its Alexa+ rollout, Amazon will get rid of the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” setting on Echo devices that let people store voice recordings locally.

Amazon Echo models that were previously able to process Alexa requests locally will no longer do so, instead sending those voice recordings to the cloud. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the change to The Verge after a Reddit user posted a PSA about it on Friday,

If you own an Echo smart speaker, it will soon lose a key privacy feature — and be replaced with cloud processing of all voice commands.

Last month Amazon introduced Alexa+ which uses generative AI to offer an enhanced version of Amazon’s voice assistant software. It will do a better job of engaging in natural-sounding conversations, remembering things you’ve told it in the past, and have the ability to interact with other apps and services on your behalf.

The move is seen as connected to the launch of its generative AI-powered Alexa Plus, which is slated to be released later this month

Echo devices will lose the ability to process locally and all your Alexa recordings will be sent to Amazon cloud.

For your bedside table, the Echo Spot could make for a nice companion, as long as you don’t expect great audio quality.

Owners of the Amazon Echo have long had the option for the device to process requests locally, thereby keeping their information off of Amazon’s servers. That functionality is going away starting on March 28.

All voice recordings of commands or queries given to Amazon voice assistant Alexa on the company’s Echo devices will go to the Amazon cloud starting March 28.