Sharing access to Echo dot devices.

[Unboggle the mind]

Hi there. I'm brand new to this forum, so please excuse me if my query appears on here elsewhere.

I gave my parents several echo dot devices which they have been using for the last few years. The devices run on my account, enabling me to call/drop in if they do not answer the landline or cell phone. My parents and I live in separate homes.

In order to assist one other relative to contact my parents, I have recently allowed them to access my parent’s devices using my login credentials. However, I realize that whilst I trust this relative to use my credentials for the sole purpose of calling to check in on my parents, this means that they can also access my Amazon account to browse my personal buying history, make purchases and drop in to any of my online devices in my home as well if they so choose.

I have looked at a workaround and can't seem to find anything that protects my privacy whilst we both have another means of contacting my parents in their home.

Amazon Household wouldn't work for me as all users would need to live in the same household.

Can anyone help with this dilemma? I'm really not sure if there is a solution, so if I have missed anything I would be grateful for any advice.

Thank you so much.

[jwlv]

A work-around is to use a separate Amazon account just for the Echo devices. You don't need to have a credit card on file for the account. Its sole purpose is to set up the Echo devices. If you choose to have Prime (for music or whatnot), you can pay for it on the account and then immediately remove the credit card afterwards.

It will be a pain to setup all of the Echo devices again if you have many of them.

Another solution (for US residents) is the Alexa Together service that costs $19.99/month. This is Amazon's answer for elder care. More info here --> https://www.amazon.com/Alexa-Together/b?ie=UTF8&node=21390531011

[Unboggle the mind]

Thank you for your advice. I was able to switch the echo devices in my home to a second Amazon account which is great; however, so as not to disrupt the set up on the devices at my parent's home, I had planned to leave those login credentials as they were.

The problem I have now encountered is that  my Amazon Prime Account cannot be brought over to the new account. Amazon have said I would have to cancel my current subscription, (losing the existing paid for package of approximately 9 months) then buy a new Prime subscription for the new account, thus being unable to bring across any prime movie & subscription purchases which seems really unfair and something I'm not prepared to do.

The WiFi password in my parent’s home has been changed by another (difficult) family member, hence why it made more sense to just leave the existing setup and secure my own devices and account.

I know that in some instances you can join a wifi connection if a device is in close proximity to the router, but would that work for echo devices? If so, I could then just set up the echo devices on the new account and allow access to my parent’s devices that way.

A point to note is that this difficult family member works in IT and certainly is more knowledgeable than I. I just don't want to make changes that will mean the devices are of no use in the home if restrictions are put in place to stop new (or reset) devices joining the network.

Thanks for any advice you can give.