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Two federal lawsuits against Amazon seeking class action status have claimed that the e-commerce giant's Alexa voice-assistance technology "routinely records and imprints millions of children without their consent or approval." their parents', "broke the laws of nine states, the Seattle Times. reported Wednesday.
According to the Recorder, the two lawsuits – filed on behalf of an eight-year-old boy in California and a 10-year-old boy in Massachusetts – were filed by Travis Lenkner of the US law firm Keller Lenkner in Chicago and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. The lawsuits, filed in US District Court in Washington DC and Los Angeles Superior Court, seek damages under privacy laws in nine states: California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.
"What they all have in common is that it's what we call bipartisan consent states," Lenkner told the Recorder. "An audio recording of a conversation or other person requires the consent of both parties to that interaction in those states. Where such consent is not obtained, these laws provide for penalties, including fixed amounts of statutory damages per violation. "
According to the Times, the complaint says that Amazon records "a permanent recording of the voice of the user", records and transmits excerpts of everything that was said after the "waking up" word of the day. ; Alexa. It also states that Alexa does not inform users of the creation of these permanent records, nor does it request their prior consent:
It indicates that the Alexa system is able to identify individual speakers based on their voice and that Amazon could choose to inform users who have not yet consented to the recording and ask for their consent. It could also disable permanent registration for users who did not consent.
"But Alexa does not do that," says the lawsuit. "Amazon has at no time warned unregistered users that it was creating persistent voice recordings of their Alexa interactions, not to mention obtaining their consent."
The complaint suggests that the potential class action lawsuit includes minors in states "who used Alexa at home and were therefore registered by Amazon without consent," the Times wrote.
An Amazon spokesperson referred the recorder to information about Amazon FreeTime, while it includes Alexa support and presents itself as a "dedicated service helping parents manage their interactions." children with technology, including limiting the time spent in front of a screen. FreeTime allows parents to delete profiles or registrations and requires listed apps to request their consent to collect data, and Alexa "skills" for children have similar consent requirements. The Times reported that the use of Alexa by children outside of these scenarios was not addressed in the company's FAQ.
A broader disclosure of Amazon's child privacy lists examples of information that the company can collect on children, the Times writes, and elsewhere the terms of service of Alexa claim extensive rights:
A broader disclosure of children's privacy deals with the collection of personal information by Amazon on children under the age of 13 – which may include: "name, date of birth, contact information (including phone numbers and e-mail addresses), voice, photos, videos, location, and certain activities and devices information and identifiers "- noting" in some cases we may know that a child uses our services (for example, when using a profile child). "In these cases, the collection of this information requires the consent of your parent.
Alexa's terms of use for Amazon detail the agreement between "you" and Amazon, noting immediately that "if you do not agree to the terms of this agreement, you will not be able to use Alexa".
Attorney Andrew Schapiro told the Times that he believed the "you" clause was too broad, adding that he doubted "that one could even conceive of conditions of service that bind "All members of your household." According to the Times, the plaintiffs are asking for a judge to certify the class action, that Amazon removes all the registrations from the class members and claims damages that would be determined at trial.
[Seattle Times]
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