How-To

How To Delete Cortana Recordings in Windows 10

Artificial Intelligence and its capability to execute voice commands have surely made our lives easier. We can get things done on our PC while we are equipped somewhere else. Thanks to Cortana on Windows 10, users are now able to take the privilege of voice commands while they keep themselves wired in their PCs or Xbox.

But, while AI has proved to be a worthy companion, it has also been in shade due to some snooping activities. AI-based voice assistants have allegedly recorded conversations for corporates to see, which have jeopardized user privacy and identity. And for that matter, Cortana has been an accomplice in this crime as well. It has been found that the set Cortana settings leak voice recordings and commands to Microsoft contractors without user permission.

Also Read How To Completely Remove Cortana From Windows 10 PC

Microsoft has promised that Cortana recordings would be transcribed and secured, but one small mishappening takes away that trust. Well, in case this has been troubling you as well, then don’t worry, there is a way you can simply delete Cortana recordings.

Follow these steps and delete Cortana recordings to protect your privacy:

Delete Cortana Recordings By Following These Steps

Step 1: Type Settings in the search bar or open it by pressing Win+I.

Step 2: Go to Accounts.

Step 3: Click in Manage my Microsoft account. This will open up the Microsoft website. Sign in t the website with your Microsoft Account.

Step 4: Click on Privacy.

Step 5: You’ll be prompted to re-enter your password. Once that’s done, click on My Activity

Step 6: Under Filter by Data Type, go to Voice.

Step 7: Here in the right column, you can find all the Cortona recordings and delete them all. 

Take Note. Deleting these recordings doesn’t stop Cortana from sending the new ones to Microsoft. To do that, you must turn off Cortana and disable online speech recognition. 

How To Turn Off Cortana And Disable Cortana Recording Your Voice

Step 1: Go to Settings.

Step 2: Head to Cortana Settings

Step 3: On the left side menu, click Permissions and History.

Step 4: Click “Manage the information Cortana can access from this device.”

Step 5: Scroll down to Speech Privacy Settings.

Step 6: Turn off Online Speech Recognition.

Once you’ve toggled off online speech recognition, it won’t literally turn off Cortana but would disable Cortana from further recording your conversations and voice commands.

However, Cortana settings are configured in a way that once online speech recognition is off, it will only use device-based speech recognition, which is not accurate enough to collect your voice recordings. 

It’s not just Cortana which has been found snooping on accounts, but many prominent AI assistants have been found to violate user privacy. May it be conversations and recordings or your account data, a lot of stuff remain prone to security flaws in voice assistants.

AI-based voice assistant may be the way we all will execute tasks in the future. But until the security and privacy flaws associated with them are dealt with, we as users must do our best to avoid its perils and keep our privacy secured. 

Tell Us Your Views on Voice Assistants:

Let us know your views on the credibility of voice assistants and how often you prefer to use them. 

Leave a comment