Amazon tracks nearly everything you do on its platform—your purchases, browsing history, and even interactions with Alexa. It uses all that information to understand your shopping behavior and present a better shopping experience. But what exactly does Amazon know about you, and how can you find out?
Orders and Purchase History
When you buy something on Amazon, your account saves all the details—like the product, order number, purchase date, price, and shipping info. If you’ve been using Amazon for a while, your order history might go back years.
To view your orders and purchase history, just head to the Returns & Orders page. You can sort by date, check items that got canceled or are still on the way, and even find old invoices and receipts. Amazon uses this information to suggest products and personalize your shopping experience.
Browsing History and Recommendations
Like your purchase history, Amazon also records what you browse on their site. This includes anything you click on or take a quick look at. They use this information to personalize your shopping experience and suggest products that match your interests.
To check out your browsing history, head to the Browsing History page. You’ll see a list of things you’ve recently looked at. And if you don’t want them hanging around, you can remove specific items or clear everything.
If you don’t want Amazon tracking your browsing history, you can turn it off. Go to the Browsing History page, hit the gear-shaped Settings icon in the top right, and click More settings. Then, toggle off Browsing History.
Once that’s off, any new items you view won’t appear on this page, and Amazon won’t use your browsing history for recommendations. Keep in mind that this might make your recommendations less personalized.
Wish Lists and Saved Items
Not everything you see on Amazon is something you need to buy right now. Sometimes, it’s better to save it for later or toss it on your wish list for another time. Amazon tracks these lists to fine-tune your interest profile and figure out what kind of products you’re into.
To access your Wish Lists, hover over the Account & Lists tab and select Wish Lists from the drop-down menu. From there, you can create new lists, add items to existing ones, or remove ones you don’t want anymore.
You can even share your lists with friends and family for special occasions or to show them your interests.
If you’ve got stuff sitting in your cart but aren’t ready to check out, you can move it to your Saved for later list. These items will hang at the bottom of your cart, and you can move them back whenever you need them.
It’s helpful if you’re waiting for a sale or a price drop.
Account and Personal Information
Amazon stores the information you share when creating your account, such as your name, email, shipping and billing address, and payment details. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, your account will also include things like your renewal date and payment method.
To check or update your account details, head to Account & Lists > Your Account. From here, you can manage your personal information, update your password, change your payment options, and tweak your communication preferences.
Review and Ratings History
When you leave a review or rating on an item, Amazon takes note and uses it to make your shopping experience more personalized. This helps them recommend products you might like based on what you’ve reviewed or rated before. With your shopping history and reviews, Amazon gets a better idea of what kind of shopper you are.
Alexa Interactions and Voice Recordings
Amazon devices like the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot use voice commands to perform tasks or answer questions. When you talk to Alexa, Amazon collects and stores voice recordings of your interactions. These are used to improve its speech recognition technology and provide better responses to your commands.
To review or delete your voice recordings, open the Alexa app and navigate to Settings > Alexa Privacy > Review Voice History. You can either delete individual recordings or all of them at once.
Request or Download Your Amazon Data
If you want to see all the info Amazon has on your account, you can ask for a copy of your data. It covers things like your orders, addresses, subscriptions, payment methods, and more.
To get started, head over to Request My Data, pick the categories you want in your report, and hit Submit Request. If you want the full picture, just scroll to the bottom and click Request All Your Data for a complete report. You’ll receive a confirmation email and then another email with a link to download your data.
