Ars Technica covered it with a little more digging. It seems like this lands more on the side of it being a scam or underwhelming product even from a marketer’s perspective. Seems like a false alarm, which I’ll take to be honest, lol.
Response from Amazon in the article:
Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum told Ars Technica that Active Listening isn’t possible with an Echo device, noting that users can view and delete Alexa voice data sent to the cloud in the Alexa app’s Settings menu (Settings > Alexa Privacy > Review Voice History):
Echo devices are designed to only detect your chosen wake word (Alexa, Amazon, Computer, Echo, or Ziggy). No audio is stored or sent to the cloud unless the device detects the wake word. You’ll always know when Alexa is sending your request to the cloud because a blue light indicator will appear or an audio tone will sound on your Echo device.
Amazon’s rep also said it only shares information with third parties “to fulfill customer requests” and does not share voice recordings with third parties.
Response from Google from article:
A Google spokesperon sent Ars the following statement: "For years, Android has prevented apps from collecting audio when they’re not being actively used, and whenever an app activates a device’s microphone, there is a prominent icon displayed in the status bar.”