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Tech expert: No need to worry about Amazon echo privacy concerns

Your Amazon Echo Dot has a lot of great features that use voice control, but does that same feature make it a privacy concern?

The top selling item on Amazon has some privacy concerns attached to it.

The Amazon Echo allows you to do more with your voice than you ever have—buy items, turn on music, ask about the weather—but is it listening to everything all the time?

"I used it to turn my lights on and off, I got the smart lights, which is really cool," Amazon customer Adam Prosise said.

The possibilities seem endless.

"I used to listen to music, I use the flash briefing a lot, to kind of get the news while I'm shaving or getting ready for the day," Prosise said.

And the popularity is as high as it's ever been.

"It's generally kind of the future of technology," Prosise said.

So as Prosise opens his Christmas gift he knows what he's getting with the Amazon Echo Show.

"It helps me be prepared," Prosise said.

The Echo Show and its cousin, the Echo Dot, topped the list of best selling items on retail giant Amazon this holiday season.

The key feature—it listens for commands that you can say anytime.

So should you be concerned about your privacy?

"I'd be stunned if Amazon is listening in to everything we do, because I don't think it's in the best interests of Amazon," Prosise said.

"If it's on...it's listening to everything that you say," tech expert Luke Wood said.

Allevia Technology's Wood beta tested an earlier version of the Echo.

"As far as somebody listening, I don't know if anybody knows," Wood said.

He says he's skeptical though—and he wouldn't be worried about privacy violations.

"I mean you're going to see stuff like that with any voice-connected, internet-connected application, for as long as we have them," Wood said.

But if you are worried someone's snooping—Wood says you have some control over the Echo product.

"Turn the mic off—absolutely, there's a button with a microphone picture on every device they sell, and literally, all you do is push it," Wood said.

Wood says changing settings can help as well.

"Know what your device can do, and make your decisions based on that stuff," Wood said. "Education, education, education, that's the best thing I can tell people."

Wood also mentioned enabling a PIN number to validate who you are before you buy something—that way you don't have someone buying things on your account using a simple voice command.

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