Amazon has agreed to pay $25 million to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle allegations that it violated children’s privacy rights through its Alexa voice assistant. The company was accused of failing to delete Alexa recordings as requested by parents and was found to have retained sensitive data for an extended period.
In addition, Amazon’s doorbell camera unit Ring will pay $5.8 million after granting employees unrestricted access to customers’ data. The FTC complaint stated that Amazon repeatedly assured users, including parents, that they could delete voice recordings collected by Alexa. However, the company retained the data for years and utilized it unlawfully to enhance the Alexa algorithm.
Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, criticized Amazon for misleading parents, retaining children’s recordings indefinitely, and disregarding deletion requests. Levine accused the company of prioritizing profits over privacy.
Regarding Ring, the FTC revealed that thousands of employees and contractors were able to watch recordings of customers’ private spaces. They could view and download sensitive video data for personal purposes. One employee even viewed numerous video recordings of female users’ intimate spaces before being stopped by a colleague.
Amazon stated that Ring had already addressed the issues on its own years ago, prior to the FTC inquiry. However, the complaint highlighted the employee’s unauthorized actions, emphasizing Ring’s disregard for privacy and security.
While Amazon disagrees with the FTC’s claims and denies any violations, the settlements will resolve these matters. The company expressed its commitment to developing additional privacy features for the benefit of its customers.
