The best privacy settings for Amazon accounts center on restricting data collection, limiting ad personalization, and controlling who can contact you. Amazon collects extensive data about your shopping habits, browsing behavior, voice commands, and location—and by default, much of this information feeds into targeted advertising and third-party sharing. For example, if you’ve searched for pregnancy tests on Amazon, you may suddenly see maternity ads across the web because Amazon shared your shopping signals with advertisers.
By systematically adjusting your account settings, you can significantly reduce what Amazon collects and how it uses your information. Amazon’s privacy settings are scattered across multiple menus and not prominently featured, which means most users never adjust them. The platform defaults to maximum data collection for business reasons—your behavior fuels Amazon’s advertising network, which generates billions in revenue. This means you’ll need to be deliberate about changing these settings yourself.
Table of Contents
- How to Disable Amazon Ads Personalization and Data Sharing
- Controlling Your Alexa and Smart Home Privacy
- Managing Your Amazon Prime Video and Content Preferences
- Securing Your Account Login and Two-Factor Authentication
- Third-Party App Permissions and Connected Services
- Email Communications and Marketing Preferences
- The Broader Picture—What Amazon Doesn’t Let You Control
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
How to Disable Amazon Ads Personalization and Data Sharing
The most impactful privacy change you can make is turning off ad personalization in your Amazon account settings. Navigate to “Account & Lists” > “Your Account” > “Login & Security,” then scroll to “Advertising Preferences.” From there, you can disable interest-based ads, which prevents Amazon from using your shopping and browsing history to target ads. When you disable this, Amazon still shows you ads, but they’re less targeted and less profitable for the company—which is precisely why this setting isn’t obvious. Beyond ads, Amazon allows third parties to use your data through its data partnerships. In the same Advertising Preferences section, you can opt out of allowing Amazon to share your data with other companies for their marketing purposes.
This is particularly important because advertisers often combine Amazon data with information from other sources to build comprehensive profiles. A practical example: if you’ve bought medications on Amazon, third parties may use that information to target you with pharmaceutical ads across the internet—unless you opt out of data sharing. Many users don’t realize that even after disabling ads personalization, Amazon still collects all your activity. Disabling personalization just prevents Amazon from using that data for targeted ads. The data collection itself continues.
Controlling Your Alexa and Smart Home Privacy
If you use Amazon Alexa devices, your voice recordings are stored indefinitely unless you manually delete them. Visit “Alexa & Your privacy” in your account settings and review your voice history—you’ll likely find recordings from months or years back. While Amazon claims humans only review recordings when needed to improve the service, these recordings are still accessible and stored on Amazon’s servers. You can set Alexa to delete recordings automatically, though you’ll lose the ability to review your voice history if you need to troubleshoot issues. A significant limitation here is that disabling voice recording entirely isn’t really possible if you want to use Alexa—the device simply doesn’t function without sending your voice to Amazon’s servers.
You’re choosing between privacy and functionality. The best compromise is enabling automatic deletion of voice recordings after a set period (Amazon offers 3 months or 18 months options) and regularly reviewing what’s been stored in the Alexa app. Additionally, Alexa shares location data with Amazon if you enable location services. This is often enabled by default when you first set up an Alexa device, and it feeds into Amazon’s broader location-tracking system. Disable location access in the Alexa app unless you specifically need it for location-based services.
Managing Your Amazon Prime Video and Content Preferences
Amazon tracks everything you watch on Prime Video, and this information feeds into your advertising profile. Your viewing history is visible in your account, and you can delete individual titles, but Amazon still logs what you’ve watched for recommendation purposes. The platform uses this data to determine your interests and target you with ads for products related to shows or movies you’ve viewed. You can restrict your Prime Video recommendations from influencing other Amazon ads by disabling the “Use viewing history” option in your Prime Video settings.
However, this only prevents Prime Video specifically from informing your ad targeting—Amazon still uses your shopping history and other activity. A real-world scenario: if you binge-watch true crime documentaries, Amazon may infer you’re interested in security products, home surveillance systems, or safety equipment, and target you accordingly, even if you’ve never searched for these items. Amazon also allows you to set parental controls and restrict mature content, which is valuable if you have family members using your account. However, shared accounts mean that everyone’s data comingles in your advertising profile, so multiple people’s interests may be used to target you with ads.
Securing Your Account Login and Two-Factor Authentication
Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) is essential but not sufficient for comprehensive privacy. 2FA protects against unauthorized account access, which is critical for preventing hackers from exploiting your stored payment methods and address information. Navigate to “Login & Security” and enable 2FA using your phone number or an authentication app. Using an authentication app (rather than SMS) is more secure because it’s resistant to SIM swapping attacks, where hackers trick your phone carrier into transferring your number to their device. The trade-off with 2FA is friction—you’ll need to provide a second factor every time you log in on a new device.
For accounts you access frequently (like buying groceries on Amazon), this can be annoying, but the security benefit outweighs the inconvenience. Additionally, consider using a unique, strong password generated by a password manager, which is far more difficult for attackers to crack than passwords you create manually. One often-overlooked security setting is device trust. After enabling 2FA, you can manage which devices are trusted and don’t require 2FA on every login. Review this list periodically and remove devices you no longer use. If a device is stolen or compromised, removing it from the trusted list prevents attackers from accessing your account without providing the second factor.
Third-Party App Permissions and Connected Services
Amazon allows numerous third-party apps and services to connect to your account, from financial apps that sync with your Amazon purchases to smart home integrations. Each connected app has access to certain data—for example, a budgeting app might see your purchase history, and a smart home integration might see your device settings. Visit “Third-Party App Permissions” in your account settings to see what’s connected and what each app can access. The limitation here is that revoking permissions from a third-party app often breaks that app’s functionality entirely. For instance, if you revoke access to your purchase history from a budget-tracking app, the app can no longer categorize your Amazon spending.
You’re often forced to choose between convenience and privacy. Best practice: only connect third-party apps when necessary, and regularly audit what’s connected. Remove apps you’re no longer using, as they may still have permissions even if inactive. A warning: if you’ve ever used “Sign in with Amazon” to create accounts on other websites, those sites have access to your Amazon profile information. Each site that uses this authentication method can see your email, name, and sometimes other data. Check your “Apps and Websites” section to see what third parties you’ve authorized, and revoke access to any services you no longer trust or use.
Email Communications and Marketing Preferences
Amazon sends numerous marketing emails by default, including recommendations, promotional offers, and digests of new products in your interest categories. While these emails aren’t a privacy violation in the traditional sense, they reflect Amazon’s assumption that you want constant marketing contact. Disable these in “Email Communications Preferences.” You can keep important transactional emails (like order updates) while opting out of marketing entirely.
Additionally, check your “SMS (Short Messages)” preferences to disable marketing text messages. Amazon can send you promotional SMS, which is another channel for data-driven marketing. A practical example: if you’ve bought vitamins on Amazon, you might receive SMS promotions for health supplements—this is because Amazon’s system has categorized your interests and is using that data for direct marketing.
The Broader Picture—What Amazon Doesn’t Let You Control
Even after enabling all these privacy settings, Amazon still collects substantial data about your behavior. Your IP address, device identifiers, browsing patterns within Amazon, search queries, and the time you spend on different product pages—this all flows into Amazon’s data infrastructure. Unlike some settings you can toggle, you cannot prevent Amazon from collecting this foundational data if you want to use the service.
Looking ahead, regulatory changes like the European Union’s Digital Services Act and various state privacy laws are beginning to require companies to offer more granular privacy controls. Amazon is gradually expanding its privacy options in response to regulation, but privacy protection remains an opt-in process rather than the default. If privacy is your priority, regularly revisiting your settings as Amazon adds new features and third-party integrations is necessary.
Conclusion
Securing your Amazon account privacy requires adjusting settings across multiple sections—advertising preferences, Alexa settings, third-party app permissions, and login security. The most impactful changes are disabling ad personalization, opting out of data sharing with third parties, managing your Alexa voice history, and enabling two-factor authentication. These steps won’t eliminate data collection entirely, but they substantially reduce what Amazon collects and how it uses your information for targeting.
The reality is that Amazon’s business model is built on data collection, and privacy settings are exceptions to the default behavior rather than central to the platform. Review your account settings every few months, particularly after major life events or when you notice unusual ad targeting. Stay aware of new third-party integrations you’ve authorized, and remove access from services you no longer use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does disabling ad personalization on Amazon cost me more money?
No. Disabling ad personalization doesn’t affect product pricing. Amazon’s advertising revenue comes from paid ads shown to other users, not from what you pay for products. You may see fewer relevant recommendations, but this doesn’t change your shopping costs.
Can I completely prevent Amazon from collecting my data?
No. Amazon collects foundational data about your activity as part of providing the service. You cannot prevent data collection entirely without abandoning the platform. You can only control how Amazon uses and shares what it collects.
Is using a VPN helpful when shopping on Amazon?
A VPN masks your IP address from Amazon, but Amazon still collects data through your account login, cookies, and browsing history within the app or website. A VPN provides some protection against ISP-level tracking but doesn’t substantially improve Amazon account privacy.
What should I do if I see suspicious activity on my Amazon account?
Change your password immediately, enable two-factor authentication if you haven’t already, and review your recent orders and address changes. Check the “Login Activity” section to see where your account has been accessed. If you see unrecognized logins, you may have been compromised.
Are Amazon’s privacy policies different in different countries?
Yes. European users have stronger privacy protections under GDPR, and they can request to see all data Amazon holds about them. US users have fewer statutory protections, though some states (California, Virginia, Colorado) offer limited data privacy rights. Check your local regulations to understand your rights.
Should I delete my old Amazon reviews?
Older reviews are tied to your account and still visible to Amazon’s recommendation algorithms. Deleting reviews removes them from public view but doesn’t necessarily prevent Amazon from using the data internally. If privacy is a concern, you can delete reviews, though this won’t significantly impact your overall privacy profile.