Amazon will pay over $30 million in fines to settle alleged privacy violations involving its voice assistant Alexa and doorbell camera Ring.
Lawsuit details: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims Amazon violated privacy laws by keeping recordings of children’s conversations with Alexa and allowing employees to monitor customers’ Ring camera recordings without consent.
* The alleged practices violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
* The FTC alleges Amazon held onto children’s voice and geolocation data indefinitely, used it to improve its algorithm, and kept transcripts despite parents’ requests to delete them.
Amazon’s response: The company disagrees with the FTC’s findings and does not believe they violated any laws.
* Amazon states it has consistently taken steps to protect customer privacy, provided clear privacy disclosures and customer controls, and maintained strict internal controls to protect customer data.
Proposed orders: In addition to paying $25 million for COPPA violations and $5.8 million for Ring video access violations, Amazon would have to delete certain data, notify customers about the FTC’s actions, and report any unauthorized access to videos.
* The proposed orders require approval from federal judges.
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