Amazon has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations made by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it violated children’s privacy rights through its Alexa voice assistant. The company was accused of failing to delete Alexa voice recordings upon parents’ requests and was found to have retained sensitive data for an extended period.
According to the FTC complaint, Amazon had reassured its users, including parents, that they could delete voice recordings collected by the Alexa system. However, the company failed to fulfill this promise, keeping the data for years and utilizing it unlawfully to enhance its Alexa algorithm.
Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, accused Amazon of misleading parents, indefinitely retaining children’s recordings, and disregarding deletion requests. Levine stated that Amazon prioritized profits over privacy, sacrificing privacy rights for financial gains.
In addition to the Alexa-related settlement, Amazon’s doorbell camera unit Ring will also pay $5.8 million to authorities. Ring, acquired by Amazon in 2018, allowed thousands of employees and contractors to access customers’ private video data without restrictions. These individuals could watch and download sensitive video recordings for personal purposes, as revealed by the FTC.
Amazon responded to the allegations, stating that Ring had addressed the issues independently years ago, before the FTC initiated its inquiry. However, the complaint detailed instances where an employee had accessed numerous video recordings of female Ring camera users, including their private spaces like bathrooms and bedrooms. The employee’s actions were halted only after being noticed by a colleague.
The FTC’s settlement emphasizes that prioritizing profits over privacy does not come without consequences. The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection highlighted Ring’s disregard for privacy and security, which exposed consumers to potential spying and harassment. The settlement serves as a clear message that privacy violations will not be tolerated.
