I have two Amazon Echos that I never use, but they apparently burn GBs a day

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Open-source and alternative voice assistants

  • Several commenters lament the lack of a fully open-source, self-hosted Echo/Google Home replacement.
  • The difficulty is seen as the back-end cloud ecosystem, not the hardware itself.
  • Home Assistant’s new voice features are cited as a promising direction, though some question how “open” the stack really is.
  • Mycroft is mentioned as a serious attempt that died after a patent dispute.
  • Some argue most people mainly want multi-room music plus basic voice commands; others say they explicitly do not want LLM-style assistants, just a small, stable command set.

What people actually use Echo for

  • Common uses: music, timers, unit conversions, light control, trivia, reminders.
  • Ordering from Amazon via voice is described as rare in practice.
  • A few find hands-free timers/conversions in the kitchen genuinely helpful; others feel talking to devices is unnatural and encourages laziness.

Data usage and Amazon Sidewalk

  • Many consider GBs/day from “unused” Echos abnormal; others note that Echo Show devices display ads and visuals and may constantly update, which can consume bandwidth.
  • Sidewalk is discussed but largely dismissed as the cause due to a 500MB/month cap and relatively low bandwidth.
  • One user shares real-world stats: multiple Echos using only a few GB over 90 days, suggesting the original case is atypical.
  • ARP/broadcast storms from embedded devices are mentioned as a possible local-network culprit.

Privacy, surveillance, and trust

  • Strong sentiment that “smart speakers” are really always-on microphones / telescreens.
  • Some see surprise at data use as naive: these devices are designed to collect telemetry, show ads, and listen.
  • Others push back that users shouldn’t have to build DMZs, Pi-holes, and filters just to avoid being spied on.
  • Comparisons are drawn to phones as pervasive surveillance devices, with some preferring hardened phones over adding dedicated microphone arrays at home.

Mitigations and reactions

  • Suggested mitigations: disable voice recording storage, “Help Improve Alexa,” Sidewalk, and skill permissions; or block telemetry domains like device-metrics-us.amazon.com.
  • Multiple people advocate simply unplugging or destroying the devices and avoiding “smart” gadgets altogether.